News

Trump rips ‘disgraceful’ Norah O’Donnell for reading WHCA shooting suspect’s manifesto

Comments:

by Mallory Wilson - 04/26/26 8:41 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Mallory Wilson - 04/26/26 8:41 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

President Trump on Sunday criticized CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell for reading the reported manifesto of the suspected gunman at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, calling the veteran reporter a “disgrace.”

“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump told O’Donnell in a “60 Minutes” interview taped Sunday afternoon, later calling her “disgraceful.”

Trump appeared on Sunday’s episode of “60 Minutes” to discuss Saturday’s shooting at the annual WHCA dinner. Shortly after the dinner began, a heavily armed man ran through security at the Washington Hilton, where he exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officials before being apprehended.

Trump, Cabinet members, lawmakers and other high-profile White House officials were evacuated from the ballroom, and the dinner was ultimately canceled.

Multiple media reports have identified the suspected gunman as Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif. CBS News and other outlets reported Sunday that Allen wrote a manifesto stating he intended to target administration officials. A White House official confirmed to The Hill that the suspect did write such a manifesto.

O’Donnell on Sunday began reading a portion of the reported manifesto to Trump, saying, “The so-called manifesto is a stunning thing to read, Mr. President. He appears to reference a motive in it. He writes this quote, ‘Administration officials, they are targets.’ And he also wrote this, ‘I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.'”

“Yeah, he did write that. I’m — I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody,” Trump said. “I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all — stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated,” he said, later calling the CBS News senior correspondent “disgraceful.”

“You know, he’s a sick person,” Trump continued. “But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”

“You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace,” he added. “But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”

O’Donnell continued the interview, stating the suspected gunman also wrote social media posts critical of the president and others that included anti-Christian rhetoric. Trump responded, asking why O’Donnell didn’t outline the comments, specifically.

“You should read — why don’t you read all the anti-Trump? Why don’t you read it? You just did, so why don’t you read it?” he said.

In the interview, Trump said he “wasn’t worried” about possible injuries during Saturday’s incident.

“I wasn’t worried. I understand life,” Trump said Sunday. “We live in a crazy world.”

One Secret Service agent, who was saved by their bulletproof vest, was injured. This law enforcement official was in “good spirits” after the shooting, according to the Secret Service.

Trump also said Sunday that as the shooting unfolded, he pushed back against the law enforcement officials who were trying to usher him out of the ballroom.

“I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for ’em. I wanted to see what was going on,” he said, later calling the gunman “pretty incompetent” because he “got caught pretty easily.”

The president also reiterated his Saturday call for the dinner to be rescheduled within the next month.

“I don’t want to see it canceled,” he said. “I think it’s really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this.”

Add as preferred source on Google