President Donald Trump has faced more known assassination attempts than any other American president.
A gunman reportedly opened fire near a security screening area at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026, during the annual dinner attended by Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other officials. The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, injured a Secret Service Uniformed Division officer with non-life-threatening wounds before he was taken into custody.
On Monday, Allen was charged in federal court on April 27, 2026, with three counts, reported CBS News:
- Using a firearm during a crime of violence;
- Transportation of a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony;
- Attempt to assassinate the President of the United States.
The Dallas Express reported that Allen allegedly sent relatives an anti-Trump manifesto about 10 minutes before the shooting, in which he listed Trump administration officials as targets from highest- to lowest-ranking and wrote that he experienced “rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”
The outlet also reported that the manifesto mocked security at the hotel, claiming the gunman walked in with multiple weapons without being seen as a threat and that screeners focused on protesters rather than those already inside.
Attendees later questioned the screening process on social media, with some saying tickets were barely reviewed, and no visible bag checks occurred before entry. The Dallas Express reported that the incident marked the third high-profile armed attack involving Trump since 2024, following the July 13, 2024, shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the September 15, 2024, incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The shooting took place at the same Washington Hilton where President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in 1981.
The counts below draw from documented cases, including armed attacks, plots, and credible threats while campaigning for the Presidency or as President. Only the top five Presidents by number of attempts are included, ordered from most to least.
|
President
|
Number of Attempts
|
First Attempt
|
Last Attempt
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Donald Trump
|
17
|
In June 2016, Michael Steven Sanford attempted to grab an officer’s pistol at a Las Vegas rally to shoot then-candidate Trump.
|
On April 25, 2026, Cole Tomas Allen allegedly fired shots near a security screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner while targeting Trump administration officials.
|
|
Barack Obama
|
13
|
In December 2008, Marine Kody Ray Brittingham plotted to assassinate President-elect Obama, calling him a domestic enemy in a signed letter.
|
In June 2023, Taylor Taranto was arrested near Obama’s Washington home with weapons after the January 6, 2021, Capitol unrest.
|
|
Abraham Lincoln
|
5
|
On February 23, 1861, the Baltimore Plot by Confederate sympathizers threatened President-elect Lincoln en route to his inauguration.
|
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, fatally wounding him.
|
|
Bill Clinton
|
5
|
On January 21, 1994, Ronald Gene Barbour plotted to kill Clinton while the President jogged, but returned to Florida without acting.
|
In October 2018, Cesar Sayoc sent a pipe bomb addressed to Hillary Clinton that was intercepted at the couple’s Chappaqua home while Bill Clinton was present.
|
|
Gerald Ford
|
3
|
In mid-August 1974, Muharem Kurbegovic threatened to throw a chemical bomb at Ford shortly after he took office.
|
On September 22, 1975, Sara Jane Moore fired a revolver at Ford in San Francisco, but the shot missed after a bystander intervened.
|
* This list does not include anecdotal accounts of alleged assassination attempts against presidents, such as Former First Lady Laura Bush’s claim that her husband, George W. Bush, may have been poisoned at the G8 summit in 2007. The list also does not include situations such as the September 11th attacks, where some believe one of the hijacked aircraft may have been headed for the White House before crashing, or seemingly unserious contemplated actions such as Madonna’s claim that she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House” in 2017. The list similarly excludes acts of violence against major presidential contenders such as Senator Robert F Kennedy or Alabama Governor George Wallace, whose campaigns for President were derailed by successful or unsuccessful assassination attempts.
Trump’s attempted assassinations included multiple armed attacks at public events, domestic extremists, and ricin-laced letters, with the most recent armed incident occurring amid heightened political tensions.
Obama encountered a series of plots involving ricin mailings and radiation devices. Lincoln’s attempts, clustered during the Civil War, included sniper fire, biological plots, and coordinated conspiracies by Confederate sympathizers that ended in his successful assassination at Ford’s Theatre.
Others, including Ronald Reagan, survived wounds from attempts. In some of these cases, such as Reagan’s, the perpetrators are believed to have acted alone. In other cases, such as Lincoln’s, the perpetrators acted as part of a conspiracy. In yet other cases, such as Kennedy’s, the existence of a conspiracy is still heavily debated by historians.
Moore and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme are the only women who are publicly known to have attempted to carry out the physical act of an assassination attempt against an American president, though some, such as Mary Surratt, were implicated in the conspiracy against Lincoln.
The Secret Service expanded its protective mandate after McKinley’s death in 1901, and threats have been a federal felony since 1917.
