Washington Edition: Political violence, again

I’m Jonathan Tamari, senior Washington reporter for Bloomberg Government, and each weekday I’ll be coming to you with inside-the-room reporting and insights that reveal what’s really happening in Washington—and how it impacts you. Email me with feedback and comments here. If this newsletter was forwarded to you sign up here.

Today: Terror at a celebration, Warsh gets good news, and Musk v Altman goes to trial.

Violence, Again

I moved to D.C. 14 years ago, and if you asked me then how many times I would personally witness armed security rushing members of Congress out of a room, I would have said zero.

That count is now up to two after Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (Jan. 6 being the first). I’d be naive if I now expected the number to stay that low.

Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via Getty Images North America

By now you know what happened. Everyone in the room has a story.

Mine started at a table roughly parallel with the dais where the president and VP sat. Just after finishing my salad, I heard the loud pop of gun shots, and looked up to see agents in suits flying into the room with guns drawn. At first I feared they were chasing — and firing at — a threat who had made it in. An agent near our seats pointed her pistol toward the commotion, crouched into a lunge, and told us to get down and under the table. 

I kept my eyes on the room, texted my wife, and waited.

Quickly, fortunately, it became clear no one inside had been shot. The agents rushing in were there to remove the key officials. I saw an officer in a sash — the same sash I’d seen while reporting from the House chamber on Jan. 6 — grab House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and, with another man, help him toward an exit (Emmer had a pre-existing leg injury). 

I started my professional journalism career on 9/11 in New Jersey, and that day taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned: even when the moment feels chaotic and dangerous, we keep working. Reporters report.

Now we add a terrifying third assassination attempt on Donald Trump to the long list of political violence plaguing a country marked by searing polarization, commodified anger, and a feeling that every election is existential. 

We can go through the list: Gabby Giffords, Steve Scalise, Jan. 6, Trump in Butler, Pa., the killings of state lawmakers in Minnesota, except I’m afraid I’ll forget some, because there are just too many to keep track.

Trump was measured after the incident Saturday. He decried political violence against anyone, and said he was in a “dangerous profession.” He was gracious toward his media hosts, and to the law enforcement that stopped the attacker without anyone getting killed. 

The would-be-killer, Cole Tomas Allen, was likely targeting administration officials, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Meet the Press Sunday, though he didn’t specify who was the target. Allen called Trump a “traitor” in a manifesto viewed by Bloomberg, and signed it “Friendly Federal Assassin.”

Now what?

• Charges against Allen are expected today. The case presents an early test for Blanche, and a chance to prove his ability to potentially become the permanent head of DOJ.
• There are new questions about security at the Hilton that hosted the dinner, the same place where John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan. Trump used the moment to push for his White House ballroom, arguing it would be more secure.
• He’s calling for holding the dinner again within 30 days, telling Fox News he’d give “a speech of love” if it happens.

There are, of course, calls to lower the country’s temperature. We’ve heard that before. Still, the incidents keep happening, the count keeps climbing.

Top News

Efforts to resume the U.S.-Iran peace talks appear stalled. Axios reported that Iran offered a deal to end the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin.

Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Fed is now on a glide path. Key GOP Senator Thom Tillis said he’d drop his objections after prosecutors ended their probe into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

China blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus, a surprise move that comes weeks before Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing.

King Charles III begins his US visit, including a state dinner and a speech to Congress. The hope is the king can help repair relations.

Photographer: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AFP

Elon Musk and Sam Altman will face off this week in a trial that pits two titans of artificial intelligence in a showdown over OpenAI’s future.

Sergey Brin’s opposition to California’s proposed wealth tax reflects a broader political awakening among the state’s ultra-rich.

Florida lawmakers begin a special session tomorrow with a high-stakes question: how far to go in loosening vaccine requirements.

Supreme Court lawyer Kannon Shanmugam’s move to a new law firm spotlights how firms are building practices focused on the high court as more disputes under Trump go to the top rungs of the judiciary.

Watch & Listen

Go Deeper With BGOV

Anduril rocketed past other tech companies in a federally funded small business innovation investment program when it secured a US Border Patrol order worth at least $367 million, BGOV’s Maika Ito finds.

On Today’s Agenda

King Charles visit starts (see above)

The US Supreme Court hears arguments over digital warrants and Bayer’s Roundup

Virginia’s Supreme Court hears arguments on redistricting

House Rules meeting on reconciliation/FISA

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee

Musk v Altman trial begins (see above)

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