The Department of Justice’s preliminary findings are clear: the gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night came for President Donald Trump.

The suspect, identified in US media as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California, was carrying a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he breached a security screening area at the Washington Hilton just after 8:30 p.m. He fired multiple shots before being tackled and detained. One Secret Service agent was struck but survived, saved by his bullet-resistant vest.

Writings attributed to Allen criticized Trump administration policies and declared he would no longer “permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who was feet from the gunman, described him firing what appeared to be “a very serious weapon.”

The attack is being investigated as politically motivated.

Three thousand miles east and an ocean beyond that, the machinery of state diplomacy ground forward regardless. Buckingham Palace confirmed Sunday that King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the US, scheduled to begin Monday, will proceed “as planned” following security discussions between Washington and London.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News he was “very confident” the royal couple would be safe, citing Saturday night’s response as evidence that US security systems work.

The Palace said minor adjustments would be made to some engagements to “further minimise risks,” though specifics were not disclosed. The King was said to be “greatly relieved” that the president, Melania Trump and other guests had been unharmed, and privately reached out to the Trumps.

The visit — set to include an address to both houses of Congress, a trip to the 9/11 memorial, and a wreath-laying in Virginia — was already diplomatically delicate, coming amid tensions over the Falklands and the Iran conflict. The shooting has added a security dimension that neither side anticipated.

That Charles is still coming is the signal. The Palace had every reason to delay. It chose not to.

Sources