King to meet Trump off-camera amid clash fears before Charles’ Congress speech – US politics live

The suspected gunman who tried to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner appeared in federal court on Monday and was charged with three federal crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president.

The alleged shooter, identified by law enforcement agencies as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from Torrance in southern California, was charged with attempting to assassinate the US president, transportation of firearms to commit a felony, and unlawful discharge of a firearm during violence.

The first charge carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

Allen was being represented by lawyers with the federal defender’s office and sat beside them in court in a blue jail jumpsuit. Three US marshals sat directly behind him during his appearance.

Allen has no record of criminal charges or a civil court history in Los Angeles county, according to a records search.

The weapons he had on him Saturday night included a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a pistol and three knives, according to Jocelyn Ballantine, a federal prosecutor.

Judge Matthew Sharbaugh asked Allen if he had taken any drugs in the last day or so, to which Allen responded no.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of US news as the Trumps continue hosting King Charles and Queen Camilla during their state visit.

As expected, the British royals have a packed itinerary of events this morning including been greeted by Donald and Melania Trump at the White House, signing the guest book and exchanging gifts.

Apart from the greeting, most of the events are closed to the media and Charles will be spared the potential humiliation of being upbraided in public by Trump after the White House agreed that any meeting between the two men should be held off camera.

British officials have pushed for the Oval Office meeting between the monarch and the US president to be held off camera for fear of a repeat of the scenes when Trump berated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in front of the world’s press.

Sources involved in planning the trip say Charles will pose for the cameras at the start of his centrepiece bilateral meeting on Tuesday, but will not be filmed talking about anything substantive.

The this afternoon, at 3pm, the king will address Congress. He is expected to allude to recent strains between the UK and US in a rare address by a monarch to the US Congress as he will underline that “time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together”.

The king’s remarks in a speech to both houses on Tuesday will come after Donald Trump has threatened to tear up a trade deal signed by the UK and US, mocked the Royal Navy and insulted the UK prime minister.

In his speech, the king is expected to reflect that while the UK and US have not always agreed on all matters over the past 250 years, the foundations of their “democratic, legal and social traditions” – stretching all the way back to Magna Carta – are such that “time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together”.

In other developments:

• Cole Allen was accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump in Saturday when he was tackled with two guns outside the White House correspondents’ dinner.

• An FBI affidavit in support of the charges quoted from a manifesto Allen sent to family just before the thwarted attack in which he said: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”

• In the aftermath of the thwarted attack, three Republican senators called for the public to immediately fund the construction of the White House ballroom Trump has his heart set on. “Hell no,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded.

• During his interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump repeated a false claim he has made at least three times: that the BBC used AI to put words in his mouth and alter his remarks to supporters before the Capitol riot on January 6 2021.