Author: Tina Nguyen (Senior Reporter at The Verge)

Translated by: Shenchao TechFlow

Introduction by Shenchao: After the White House Correspondents' Dinner was shot at, Trump was urgently evacuated and immediately turned the topic at the press conference to the White House ballroom he is building—a controversial project costing $400 million, funded by tech and crypto companies. Coinbase, Gemini, Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are all on the donation list. The political trading logic behind the ballroom is more worthy of attention from the crypto industry than the sound of gunfire.

On the evening of April 25, a gunman attempted to break into the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD), where Trump, Vice President Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and senior advisor Stephen Miller were all present. Hundreds of members of the White House press corps were also in attendance.

The shooter exchanged gunfire with law enforcement at the Washington Hilton hotel security checkpoint and failed to breach the security barrier leading to the underground banquet hall. A Secret Service agent was shot but is expected to be unharmed due to wearing a bulletproof vest. The suspect was apprehended on the spot.

Hours after Trump was urgently evacuated, he did something he is best at: turning an assassination attempt into a pitch for his agenda.

Directly promoting the ballroom at the press conference

At the White House press conference that evening, Trump told reporters that the Washington Hilton "is not a particularly safe building. I didn't want to say this, but this is why we need to build all the facilities we have planned at the White House. That room is much larger and way safer."

The next morning, he doubled down on Truth Social: "What happened last night is exactly why the military, Secret Service, and law enforcement have been asking for a large secure ballroom at the White House for the last 150 years. If we had the military-grade secure ballroom currently under construction, this wouldn’t have happened at all. The construction pace isn't fast enough!"

He also called the lawsuit against the ballroom "absurd" and demanded an immediate withdrawal: "Nothing should interfere with construction; the project is within budget and way ahead of schedule!"

$400 million ballroom: the "submission" of crypto companies

The White House ballroom is one of the most controversial projects of Trump's second term. Last October, Trump suddenly ordered the demolition of the East Wing, initiating this $400 million project. Last month, a federal judge halted the construction.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued, claiming that Trump did not obtain congressional approval as required by federal law before demolishing the East Wing.

But what truly draws the crypto industry's attention is the list of donors for this project. The ballroom is funded by a nonprofit foundation, and Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, as well as crypto firms Coinbase and Gemini are among the donors. The outside world generally believes that these donations are companies trying to exchange for favorable positions from Trump on technology and crypto policies.

The suspect and the sequence of events

Initial reports indicate that the suspect, Cole Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, was a paying guest at the Washington Hilton. The security check in the hotel lobby was more lenient than at the banquet hall entrance, and Allen initiated the assault from the hotel guest corridor.

Law enforcement believes Allen's target was Trump and the senior government officials present. The specific motive is still under investigation. The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit has been involved.

This is the third assassination attempt Trump has faced, making him the president who has encountered the most assassination attempts in American history. The first occurred at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, where a bullet grazed his ear; the second happened later that year at Mar-a-Lago, where federal agents shot a man who attempted to fire a gun on the golf course. The Washington Hilton itself has a history: in 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan outside the hotel.

The political repercussions have begun

Democratic Senator John Fetterman posted on X in support of building the ballroom: "We were right at the front row. That venue was not designed to accommodate the transition of power for the entire U.S. government. Stop with the TDS, let’s build the ballroom."

The Justice Department also sent a letter to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, requesting the lawsuit to be withdrawn, stating that the shooting incident proves the ballroom "is vital for the safety of the president."

Trump said the dinner would be held again within 30 days. He was initially prepared to strongly criticize the media in his speech: "I fought to stay here. I am ready to tear it apart."