The other assassination attempts against Trump

BarcelonaThe attempted attack this weekend at a dinner for correspondents attended by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, adds to an ever-growing list. In just two years, at least four people have attempted to attack Trump directly or at an event he was attending. This is an unprecedented figure in the United States. It should be noted, however, that the motive for this weekend's attack has not yet been officially confirmed, although everything points to Trump being the target and authorities are working with a letter that the attacker allegedly sent to his relatives in which, without directly mentioning him, he harshly criticized the American president, without directly mentioning him, harshly criticized the American president.

However, Trump's case is not entirely exceptional. Since 1865, one in four U.S. presidents has suffered an assassination attempt, and four have been assassinated. Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963) lost their lives in the exercise of their office at the hands of an assailant, which is equivalent to one in nine presidents. In Trump's case, none have achieved their goal. What were the previous attempts against the tycoon? Where are those responsible now?

Attack during campaign

July 2024

During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a man opened fire on Trump. The then presidential candidate was injured in the ear – the bullet grazed his head – and was immediately evacuated. The attacker, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was 20 years old and a registered Republican voter, but had also made donations to a Democratic organization. He fired the shots from a rooftop, 150 meters away from Trump, and after injuring two attendees and killing one, he was shot dead by the police.

The golf course attempt

September 2024

Just two months later, on September 15, when the elections that made him president had not yet been held, secret agents detected a man hidden in bushes near the fence of a golf course in Palm Beach (Florida), where Trump was spending the day, near his Mar-a-Lago residence. Secret service agents opened fire on the man, who was later known to be armed with an AK-47 and also carrying a Go Pro camera. It was Ryan Routh, 58, who managed to escape at that time but was later arrested. This February, Routh, after a year and a half of trial, was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The frustrated access to the second residence

February 2026

The third attack attempt was two months ago, also in Palm Beach. This time, a man entered the Mar-a-Lago security perimeter. This is where Trump usually spends his weekends, but on this occasion, although it was Sunday, both he and his wife, Melania Trump, were at the White House. In the early morning, according to authorities, an individual was detected near the north gate of the property with a shotgun and a fuel canister. It was Austin Tucker Martin, a 21-year-old who was shot and killed at the scene. His family had reported him missing a few days earlier.

Shooting at the correspondents' dinner

April 2026

Unlike previous attempts, which occurred far from major cities, the latest attempt took place in the political, business, and institutional heart of the United States. The attacker, Cole Allen, entered the venue where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was being held on Sunday morning [Saturday evening in Washington], which Trump was attending after having declined to be there in recent years. The shots heard occurred in a different room from the dinner, and . Allen, a 31-year-old Californian teacher, allegedly sent a letter to his family, reported by The New York Post and being investigated by authorities, in which, without mentioning him, . Allen, who was subdued but not shot when he ran through a security checkpoint inside the hotel where the dinner was held, has undergone a psychiatric examination and is scheduled to appear before a federal court in Washington this Monday.