I Never Went Through WHCD Security At The Washington Hilton

I attended White House Correspondents’ Dinner receptions at the Washington Hilton and never had to go through security to get there. It is no surprise that a gunman was able to get as far as he did.

Walking up to the Hilton, security outside the front entrance asked to see tickets before reaching the hotel’s circular driveway and main entrance. A ticket was required for entry, whether to the official dinner or any associated reception hosted by outlets such as Fox News, POLITICO, or CBS. I was invited to a reception, and didn’t have a ticket to the official dinner. But once inside the lobby, attendees roamed freely. Escalators led down to the red carpet area, the International Ballroom where the dinner took place, and smaller ballrooms hosting numerous receptions. Only the main ballroom was secured by metal detectors.

All I showed to get into the hotel was an email with my reception ticket on my phone. It would have been easy to forward the email to someone else. No one inspected it closely — they only glanced at the graphic. I carried a purse on my shoulder that was never checked, and I was never screened through any metal detector. I stood shoulder to shoulder with officials and VIPs, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Stephen Miller, Karoline Leavitt, and Erika Kirk, without ever being screened. Once inside the Hilton, I never showed my ticket again.

Security and law enforcement were present throughout the hotel, and protestors or disgruntled journalists were escorted out during the night. Yet every person entering the building, where the president, vice president, cabinet members, and other senior officials were present, just levels below, should have been thoroughly screened. Hotel guests should never have had unrestricted access.

That lack of basic checks left an immediate sense of exposure that many commented on even hours before the shooting. Moving through packed crowds with nothing more than a quick glance at a phone screen made the vulnerability feel obvious, especially with high-level figures standing right beside me.

The shooter, 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, was reportedly a registered guest at the Washington Hilton. This gave him initial access to the building and lobby areas. The Hilton maintains the longstanding practice of keeping public spaces and guest areas open during the event, with full screening limited to the magnetometer checkpoint outside the International Ballroom.

Allen, armed with a shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives, reached that checkpoint and opened fire. One Secret Service agent was struck but protected by a ballistic vest. President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and cabinet members were evacuated. The dinner was disrupted. Video released by President Trump shows the gunman advancing through the checkpoint as agents responded.

Some have noted that the final checkpoint ultimately stopped the gunman from entering the ballroom. But this misses the central failure: He should never have been allowed that deep into the Hilton. Armed as he was, he could have opened fire much earlier — in the lobby, on the escalators, or inside any of the crowded pre-dinner receptions. The last security layer should not have been the only meaningful barrier.

This incident resulted from two policy shortcomings. The Hilton has hosted the WHCD for decades, attracting the president and top officials, yet it has continued to have minimal outer-perimeter controls. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has been operating under a partial shutdown for more than 70 days since February 14 due to congressional disputes over immigration enforcement. Secret Service personnel have worked with constrained resources amid record threat levels.

Venues hosting the president and other protected officials require layered security starting at the outer perimeter. Critical protective agencies like the Secret Service must have stable, full funding to maintain effectiveness. The arrangements at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night fell far short of those basic standards.

Trump praised the Secret Service response and says the dinner will be rescheduled. It should be held somewhere else.

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Bethany Miller is the director of communications at NRB, managing editor of The Conservateur, and a senior fellow at Concerned Women for America.