Trump Calls Dinner Shooting Suspect Mentally Unstable and "Anti-Christian"

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald John Trump said the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was "an anti-Christian person." He also said the dinner, which was disrupted by the shooting, would be held again as soon as possible.
In a phone interview with Fox News on the 26th local time, Trump said the suspect in the shooting the day before was "a very troubled person." He added that the man was "very mentally troubled."
The WHCA's annual dinner was held on the 25th at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. That day, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen was caught trying to pass through security with a shotgun, a handgun, and a knife. After he opened fire on security personnel, Trump was evacuated and the event was suspended.
Trump said of Allen, "If you read his manifesto, it is clear that he hated Christians." He added, "Investigators have pretty good information," and said, "He had been harboring deep hatred for a long time. It was a religious issue. It was strongly anti-Christian."
The White House said in a statement on the 26th that Allen's brother reported the manifesto to the New London Police Department in CT shortly before the shooting. Allen was also said to have stayed at the Washington Hilton Hotel on the 24th, one day before the incident. According to CNN, the manifesto identified Trump administration officials as targets. Trump said, "I heard about the New London situation. It would have been nice if someone had told us, but there was nothing we could do," adding that law enforcement officers at the scene had properly subdued the suspect.
Trump also said he hoped the dinner event, which was canceled because of the shooting, could be held "within a short time, whether in 30 days or even earlier or later," because "we cannot let these criminals and very bad people change the course of our country's events." This was the first time Trump had attended the annual event across both his first and second administrations.
Trump said he had been planning to deliver "a completely different speech" at the dinner. "It would have been a speech of love," he said. "But I didn't get the chance. Maybe it would have been better not to do it."
Meanwhile, Trump said King Charles III's four-day visit to the United States, scheduled to begin on the 27th, would go ahead as planned. He praised the king as "great" and "really brave," and said, "He has been my friend for a long time. He is coming, and we will have a great time. He is representing his country in a way nobody else can."


pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter