Up First from NPR - WHCA Shooter In Court, Trump-King Charles Relationship, Lebanon Ceasefire In Limbo

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

The man who stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is being charged with trying to assassinate President Trump, with new court documents revealing he booked the hotel a month in advance and emailed his motives minutes before the attempt.King Charles addresses Congress today during his state visit to Washington as the royal trip tests whether personal diplomacy can ease sharp tensions between the Trump administration and the UK government.As diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran remains stalled, Israel carried out new strikes in eastern Lebanon and Hezbollah launched drones at Israeli troops, with both sides accusing each other of violations.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Rebekah Metzler, Ruth Sherlock Mohamad ElBardicy, and Ally Schweitzer.It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams.Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.(0:00) Introduction(02:09) White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooter In Court(05:41) Trump- King Charles Relationship(09:44) Lebanon Ceasefire In LimboSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

So I got most of my voice back. Did you do... Were you doing anything to wean it back? I went to a doctor who gave me some medication. I received a note. I received a number of notes after last Wednesdays up first. My favorite one was the person who said, should you take a day off? You sound like you have the plague.

The man who allegedly stormed a dinner in Washington is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump. Prosecutors say he booked a hotel room well before the event. What else did a court appearance? reveal about Cole Allen. I mean, Martinez, that is Steve Inskeep, and this is up first from NPR News. King Charles addresses Congress today. He's only the second British monarch to do that following the performance of his mom. Royals try to stay above politics, so what can he say at a time of strained relations?

Also, what happened to a ceasefire in Lebanon? Israel hit eastern Lebanon with new strikes and issued evacuation orders. Hezbollah fired drones at Israeli troops. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. A court hearing gave evidence of the extended planning that went into an alleged assassination attempt in Washington. Prosecutors charged Cole Allen, the man tackled Saturday night on his way into the White House Correspondents Association dinner. NPR's Jacqueline Diaz is with us. Good morning. Good morning.

Okay, so how did this court appearance go? Well, the whole thing was over pretty quickly. It lasted about 10 to 15 minutes and was pretty routine, you know, as these things go. The public heard for the first time the official charges against Allen, and they include an attempt to assassinate President Trump, the transportation of a firearm across state lines with the intent to commit a felony, and the discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. All of these together could land Allen in prison for life. He did not speak much during the hearing. He was dressed in a blue prison outfit and answered the judge's questions, but otherwise stayed pretty quiet. Allen's next hearing is on Thursday, and until then, he is being held without bond. Okay, so what was his motive? So the court documents unsealed yesterday shed some light on that.

And to take a step back in early March, President Trump announced he'd be going to the White House correspondent's dinner. And prosecutors allege that about a month later, Allen booked a room at the Washington Hilton for that weekend. Prosecutors say Alan traveled from his home in California to Chicago and then on to D.C. via Amtrak train. And they allege he was traveling with at least two guns. On the night of the dinner, prosecutors say that minutes before he left his hotel room to allegedly carry out his plan, he sent an email to family and friends. And in that email, prosecutors say he lays out his reasoning for the planned attack. The letter says that he did not want to be represented by someone who he called, quote, a pedophile rapist and traitor, presumably that is referring to President

Trump. He also writes that his targets for the evening were administration officials. He writes, prioritized from highest ranking to lowest, and that's a direct quote. Yeah, Trump was read that line about it being a pedophile on CBS and took offense to it on Sunday night. Now, did the Justice Department say anything about how the suspect managed to get as far as he did get? Well, a video released of the incident shows Alan managed to run really fast, about 60 yards past secret service agents and a security checkpoint before being taken down by agents. And on that, acting attorney general Todd Blanche strongly defended the Secret Service during a DOJ press conference yesterday afternoon. He said the fact that Allen was stopped shows the system worked. Law enforcement did not fail.

They did exactly what they are trained to do. I want to make this clear. This man was a floor above the ballroom with hundreds of federal agents between him and the president of the United States. There does seem to be one thing that might change. As you might know, Trump has talked about rescheduling the dinner. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said at a briefing yesterday that officials are now considering whether to leave Vice President J.D. Vance at home if that happens, since he is first in line to the White House. Not putting the whole line of succession in one place. Jacqueline, thanks so much. Thank you.

The St. Pierce, Jacqueline, D.S. Okay, the King and Queen of England have begun their state visit to the United States. Now, strictly speaking, Charles has many titles such as this. Charles III, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of his other realms and territories. King, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith. By whatever name, President Trump welcomed him to the White House yesterday. Trump has been looking forward to this visit and has been looking forward to this visit

and has also been criticizing the U.K. government for everything from foreign policy to taxes to immigration. NPR White House correspondent Daniel Kurtzleben is covering the visit. Daniel, good morning. Good morning, Steve. Why is Charles coming now? Well, this visit is in honor of a bigger celebration. Of course, the U.S.'s 250th anniversary of its independence from Britain. But there's tension over a bunch of other topics, primarily the war in Iran, which the U.K. has continually declined to fight with the U.S. Now, they have allowed the U.S. to use U.K. air bases, and they're working with France to try to open the Strait of Hormuz. But Prime Minister Kier Starmor has said that this is, quote, not our war. And Trump doesn't like that. He, in fact, seemed to mock Starmor earlier this month for not giving him more help.

I said, you have two old broken down aircraft carriers. You think you could send them over? Oh, I'll have to ask my team. I said, you're the prime minister. You don't have no, no, no. I have to ask. my team president. Now, Trump has also been upset about a recent plan to ban new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. And this month, he threatened new tariffs on UK goods in reaction to a digital services tax that the UK has levied on some tech companies. Lots of tension there, but this is the British head of state. So how does this affect the visit? Well, the king is supposed to remain politically neutral at all times. So the two men may not debate important hot topics between the countries. But the visit matters because the crown is part of the UK's soft power. So even if there's no policy

happening, the visit could still be a way of easing tensions. And Trump really seems to have been looking forward to this. Why? Well, some of it stems from his childhood. His mother was born in Scotland, and Trump has talked quite a bit over the years about how much she loved the royal family. And when he met Queen Elizabeth II during his first term, he seemed almost awed by her, which is a reaction we don't see him have towards pretty much anyone. Now, Trump also really seems to like King Charles on a personal level. He's called him a friend and a great guy in recent days. Beyond all that, of course, Trump loves ceremony and grandeur,

and that just comes with a state visit. There's going to be a formal arrival on the South Lawn today, including a traditional military arrival ceremony with a 21-gun salute, a military review, and there's going to be a banquet tonight. We should add here that the shooting at the Washington, Hilton Saturday during the White House Correspondence Dinner. That did prompt a last-minute security review, but the royal's itinerary does appear unaffected. Daniel, I'm really interested in this detail. You mentioned the king is supposed to stay above politics, but he's going to go into a political arena today. He's going to address Congress. So what to expect? Well, for some clues, we can look to when Trump visited the U.K. last year. At a banquet there, Charles celebrated the nation's shared heritage, as he put it, and their cooperation over the years. Now, Charles's mother, Elizabeth,

second also addressed Congress in 1991, and during that she talked about the importance of democracy and international cooperation, including during the Gulf War. So the situation now is very different from then. Trump regularly attacks allies, and he criticizes NATO a lot, so it just emphasizes how much relations have changed between the two countries. Now, we've learned from the palace that Charles's speech will focus on reconciliation, though it will at least mention some topics the two countries disagree on, like NATO, Ukraine, and the Middle East. NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben, we'll be listening for your reporting. Thanks so much. Thank you.

We're keeping an eye on the Middle East War that has ended without ending. The ceasefire in Lebanon, for example, seems only technically still in effect. Israel has carried out widespread airstrikes in Lebanon south in recent days, forcing many civilians who had tried to return home to re-e evacuate. Hezbollah has responded by firing several drones at Israeli troops occupying the south. Let's go to Lebanon, to Beirut, where we found NPR's Cat-Lon's. Dorf. Hi, Kat. Hey, good morning. Okay, that doesn't really sound like much of a ceasefire if we're talking about drones, civilians evacuated airstrikes. Yeah, it's confusing. I mean, basically diplomatically, the ceasefire agreement is still holding, meaning that none of the parties involved, Israel, Lebanon, or Hezbollah have officially declared it over. And there haven't been air strikes here in Beirut, although, Steve, you know, as I'm sitting here talking to you, I'm hearing the buzz of Israeli surveillance drones above the city. But elsewhere in the country, the attacks,

have been ramping up from both sides in the past few days. Israel has been carrying out multiple air strikes a day against what it says are Hezbollah targets, mostly in the south, but they've been spreading to other parts of the country too. And they're deadly. You know, 14 people were killed on Sunday alone, according to Lebanese officials. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been carrying out drone strikes on Israeli troops. Over the weekend, one soldier was killed and several more were wounded. Okay. What do Lebanese people then say about these acts of war in the middle of a ceasefire? Yeah, we've been speaking to people in the south where it really does not feel like a ceasefire. I was just there a few days ago, and even then there were sporadic airstrikes, those have intensified,

and Israel has issued new evacuation orders for several communities beyond the zone it occupies. That means a lot of people are re-evacuating after trying to go back to their homes even during the ceasefire. Like 35-year-old Abed Amar. How can you call this a ceasefire? How can you call this a ceasefire? us in a voice note, if this was a ceasefire, we could be at home. This is not a ceasefire. We just met him last week in his home village down south, where he had returned with his family, but just, but he's just fled again after his village was shelled in the middle of the night. Let's just remember then. Lebanon, of course, is one theater of the larger war that pitted

the U.S. and Israel against Iran. The U.S. and Iran are supposed to be having peace talks, although they seem to have stalled in some way. What are you hearing there? Yeah, the talks between the U.S. and Iran really don't seem to be going anywhere right now. Iran has put forward a new proposal, the terms of which haven't been made public. And President Trump met with his national security team yesterday to discuss that proposal according to the White House. But Iran has made it clear it won't discuss anything further until the U.S. ends its blockade on Iranian ports. The U.S. has said its main focus is ending Iran's nuclear program. So they seem to be kind of an impasse there. And those talks are really connected to the situation. here, you know, Iran, which is Hezbollah's main backer, has said it won't engage in further talks with the U.S. unless there's a ceasefire here. But the more it seems that those talks aren't happening, there's less pressure to keep this ceasefire holding. People must not be feeling very good about the situation where you are, given everything you've just described, Kat. No, certainly not. I think people here very much feel like if talks fall apart between the U.S. and Iran,

the war will almost certainly reignite in full here. And Pierce Kat Lonsdorf is in Beirut. Thanks so much. Thank you. And that's up first for this Tuesday, April 28th. I'm Steve Inskeep. Hey, I'm May Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukonov, Rebecca Metzler, Ruth Sherlock, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Ali Schweitzer, was produced by Ziet Butch and Ben Abrams.

Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our supervising senior producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow. Vince is supervising us? Of course he is. Thank you.