Trump says he’s not afraid to appear in public after latest assassination attempt

President Trump cheered before a crowd of seniors in Florida in his first major public appearance since a gunman allegedly tried to kill him at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last weekend.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Mr. Trump said Friday, noting the attempt on his life. “I should be inside, in a secure facility, where I can quietly, beautifully and safely carry out my mandate, destroying anything that comes in our way, like bad countries that want to get nuclear weapons.”

Mr. Trump said other members of his team would have preferred him to be in a more protected environment than the school gymnasium at The Villages, where he gave his speech, apparently in support of the tax policies of the One Big Beautiful Bill.

“They want me to be somewhere safe,” he said. “I said, ‘What’s safer than the Villages?’ »

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was arraigned in federal court after he tried to rush dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday. Police say he was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives, and fired at a law enforcement officer whose body armor stopped the bullet.

Mr. Trump has previously faced assassination attempts, including an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the 2024 campaign, in which a bullet grazed his ear, and the arrest of a gunman near his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Earlier, as he left the White House, a reporter asked if he was worried about hosting large events after the dinner incident.

“I don’t even think about it,” Mr. Trump said.