Video of the handshake between the UK and US heads of state appears to show that Donald Trump did engage in his usual attempt to assert dominance by yanking the hand of King Charles towards himself, as if in a tug of war, but the king appeared ready for the maneuver the president is known for, and quickly pulled his hand back while still maintaining his grip.
Trump’s aggressive handshake, and how to combat it, has been studied in advance by visiting world leaders and heads of state since his first term, following a playbook created by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
King Charles and Queen Camilla just arrived at the White House, where they were greeted by Donald and Melania Trump. The heads of state and their spouses made some brief small talk, which was not audible on the live stream, posed for photographs and then went inside.
Reporters are gathering now at the White House to cover the arrival of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
According to a note from the White House pool reporter, the media was “gathering at the Palm Room doors for the King and Queen of the United Kingdom’s arrival”.
The Palm Room is one of the many parts of the White House Donald Trump has put his personal stamp on. This photo from January shows that it now features a photograph of the US president with Vladimir Putin.
Live video of the arrival is streaming now at the top of this page.
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s motorcade is pulling up to the White House, where they are scheduled to meet with Donald Trump.
The royals are set to have tea with the president, and visit an apiary on the White House grounds. The Trump administration has helpfully posted a video of the bees and the honey they produce, which seems perfect for tea:
Surprisingly, all of this will take place out of view of the press. Unlike with many foreign dignitaries, Trump and Charles won’t be meeting on camera, for the reasons discussed below:
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, offered some details of how the attack on the White House correspondents’ dinner unfolded.
Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused in the attack, traveled from Los Angeles to Washington DC by train via Chicago, arriving 24 April, Blanche said. He had a reservation at the gala’s venue, the Washington Hilton, from that day through the 26th.
Blanche outlined how the attack unfolded:
Approximately at 8.40 on the night of 25 April, Allen approached the security checkpoint on the terrace level of the hotel, which is, again, a floor above where the dinner was taking place. He ran through the magnetometers holding a long gun. As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.
One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic test that worked. This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot, but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, has just convened a press conference where he is outlining the charges against Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old who allegedly attacked the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday in an effort to kill Donald Trump.
“Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States federal court against Cole Thomas Allen. The first count is attempted assassination of the president of the United States. This count is punishable by up to life in prison,” Blanche said.
The two other charges Allen faces are interstate transportation of a firearm, which is punishable by as many as 10 years in prison, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life in prison.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have just stepped off the plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as they begin a four-day state visit. Here’s footage from the scene:
Here’s a rundown of what they are expected to do – and not do – during their trip:
Sky News reports that Sean Curran, the director of the Secret Service, has just arrived at the White House.
His visit may be connected to the meeting with security leaders that the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is convening today.
Trump appointed Curran as Secret Service director shortly after he began his second term. You probably have seen him before – he’s on the right in this photo:
Cole Tomas Allen has yet to respond to the charges against him, according to Reuters.
Inside the courtroom, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine briefly laid out the allegations against him, saying:
He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump.
Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old arrested after allegedly attacking Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, has been charged with trying to assassinate the president, and firearms offenses, Reuters reports.
A judge granted prosecutors’ request to temporarily keep Allen behind bars, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday on his continued detention.
Allen sat wearing a blue prison jumpsuit at a table where he was flanked by US Marshals during his appearance in a Washington DC federal courtroom, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration’s argument that the attack on the correspondent’s dinner illustrates the necessity of building a ballroom on the White House’s east wing is not exactly winning rave reviews from government watchdogs.
“Trump using this moment of chaos and panic at the White House Correspondents Dinner to push for support for his ballroom vanity project is a grossly cynical exploitation of a genuinely alarming incident for personal political gain,” said Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive non-profit opposed to the ballroom.
“The White House correspondent’s dinner in particular is an event that would never, ever be appropriate to host at the White House. There is already too much chumminess between our political leaders in Washington and the press corps that is supposed to hold them to account – pitching the White House as a venue for the event is a colossal conflict of interest that would impede the core function of the free press in a democracy.”
Donald Trump just called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired for a joke made in a monologue prior to Saturday’s attack on the White House correspondent’s dinner, in which the comedian said first lady Melania Trump resembled an “expectant widow”.
Alleging that the gunman who tried to storm the gala with the White House press corps “was there for a very obvious and sinister reason”, the 79-year-old Trump wrote on Truth Social:
I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.
It’s not the first time the Trump administration has come after Kimmel for humor criticizing the Republican president. Here’s a look back at that September incident in which ABC took Kimmel off the air then reinstated him amid an outcry over his right to free speech:
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
