A Secret Service agent wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan said Monday that the agency performed “a hell of a good job” protecting President Trump after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday evening.
Tim McCarthy, who was part of Reagan’s protective detail when John Hinckley Jr. shot the president outside the Washington Hilton, told NewsNation that the response to the attack on Trump was handled effectively. “You never want something like this to happen. Security was tested, security responded, and at this point it did pretty well,” McCarthy said.
The Saturday incident unfolded at the same venue where Reagan was targeted 44 years ago. The suspected gunman, Cole Allen, was tackled by Secret Service agents before he could reach the ballroom floor where Trump and Vice President JD Vance were seated. Allen has been charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer, and he is not cooperating with investigators, according to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
McCarthy noted that the Secret Service had at least three layers of security in place for the dinner and praised the agents for neutralizing the threat before it reached the president. “They tackled him before he even got to the stairs to even get close to coming down by the president,” he said. “So, so far, based on what I know, I’m pretty satisfied with what the Secret Service did on this occasion.”
The White House has also expressed support for the Secret Service’s performance. Chief of staff Susie Wiles is expected to convene a meeting with the White House operations team, Secret Service leadership, and Department of Homeland Security officials to review protocols for large-scale events involving Trump. The president himself has suggested moving future correspondents’ dinners to the White House ballroom, but that space will not be ready until 2028.
McCarthy cautioned against overreacting to the security breach, pointing out that shutting down the entire hotel for such events would be impractical. “Try finding a hotel with a ballroom if you’re gonna shut down the hotel, because you’re not gonna find one,” he said. “No one’s gonna want to do that.”
The attack has drawn comparisons to the 1981 shooting, which left McCarthy, White House press secretary James Brady, and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty wounded. Brady suffered permanent brain damage. In the current incident, no one was physically injured, but the episode has reignited debate about security at high-profile political gatherings.
Senator Chuck Grassley has scheduled a briefing with the Secret Service to examine potential security lapses at the dinner, while House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green has called for a broader review of protective measures for Trump and Vance. The echoes of the Reagan assassination attempt have not been lost on veteran agents like McCarthy, who urged the public to give the agency credit for its swift action.
“I think we need to ratchet down the rhetoric just a little bit and give the Secret Service at the moment quite a bit of credit for doing a hell of a good job, along with their partners,” McCarthy added. Allen remains in custody and is expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon.
