26.04.2026 15:40
After the armed attack during the White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by US President Donald Trump, the assailant Cole Thomas Allen was apprehended. Trump stated that he was the target of the attack, while it was noted that the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the incident occurred, is also remembered for the assassination attempt on US President Ronald Reagan 45 years ago. In 1981, it was revealed that the attack which wounded Reagan was driven by the assailant's obsession with actress Jodie Foster.
After the armed attack at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by US President Donald Trump, the assailant Cole Thomas Allen was apprehended.
TRUMP: THEY TARGETED ME
Trump said "they targeted me," but according to CBS News, the attack targeting Trump administration officials occurred at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
45 YEARS AGO, ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON REAGAN
The hotel is known in American political history for another assassination attempt. Then-US President Ronald Reagan was targeted and wounded in an assassination attempt at the same Washington Hotel 45 years ago.
MOTIVATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION WAS A HOLLYWOOD STAR
On March 30, 1981, as Reagan was leaving the hotel, 25-year-old John Hinckley, reported to have mental issues, attacked him with the gun in the photo, wounding Reagan with a ricochet bullet that hit his limousine. The bullet struck within 2.5 centimeters of Reagan's heart, causing the US president to suffer severe internal bleeding.
LEFT SEMI-PARALYZED FOR LIFE
During the assassination attempt, Hinckley fired six shots. One of his bullets hit then-White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head; although Brady survived, he was left semi-paralyzed for life and suffered speech problems. Besides Brady, a police officer and a Secret Service agent protecting Reagan were also wounded in the incident outside the Washington Hotel.
OBSESSED WITH JODIE FOSTER
There are several answers to the question of why attacker John Hinckley carried out this assassination attempt. Behind the assailant's motivation was a Hollywood star, Jodie Foster. Hinckley, found to be mentally unstable and deemed not guilty by reason of insanity after the attempt, was committed to a mental hospital. It was stated that he was obsessed with the famous film "Taxi Driver" and its young star, Jodie Foster.
Hinckley, who wrote love letters to Foster multiple times and, after reading in a magazine that the famous actress was taking a writing course at Yale University, enrolled in that course, was said to have targeted US President Ronald Reagan to attract Foster's attention.