The Chinese state propaganda newspaper Global Times lamented in its coverage on Sunday that the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was a result of “radicalization of international political divisions in America.”
The outlet also cited Chinese reporters present at the event reporting that security at the site of the dinner appeared “insufficient.”
President Donald Trump, who was attending the dinner as president for the first time, and members of his administration were rapidly evacuated from the event on Saturday after an armed man attempted to lay siege to the venue, reportedly carrying both firearms and knives. The individual was subsequently apprehended and is in police custody. President Trump later told reporters it appeared that one person, a law enforcement officer, was injured, shot repeatedly but protected by a bulletproof vest.
Reports have since identified the would-be gunman as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, who reportedly took two trains across the country to attend the event. Reporters revealed on Sunday that they had uncovered a vast amount of political material by Allen online identifying him as left-wing. Fox News reported that Allen recently attended a “No Kings” anti-Trump protest and, according to unnamed officials, left a manifesto.
As it typically does following any major American news development, the Global Times offered its regime-approved perspective on the shooting, blaming America’s non-totalitarian political culture for the violence and suggesting that the venue hosting the event, the Washington Hilton, was not adequately protected given the president’s attendance.
The Times cited remarks from Chinese reporters with other outlets who were in Washington.
“With nearly 300 tables and 10 guests per table, there were approximately 3,000 attendees at the gala,” the Times observed. “In addition to members of the Trump cabinet, the guest list included a wide array of high-profile dignitaries, according to Phoenix Television reporter Wang Bingru who was at the event.”
“China’s KNews reported that a reporter gained entry using a ‘ticket’ that was merely an ordinary piece of paper lacking QR codes or verifiable data,” the newspaper shared. “After a cursory glance from staff and a rudimentary bag check without a pat-down, the reporter was admitted, leading to the conclusion that — compared to the rigorous protocols of the White House — security at the dinner was loose.”
American and other reporters who became eyewitnesses to the security breach would later go on to similarly question the security measures at the dinner. Breitbart News reported on Saturday that the ballroom where the dinner was taking place is designed in such a way that makes securing it extremely difficult, as it is designed to offer easy access to the outside street and is not especially secluded from the traffic of guests at the hotel who are not affiliated with the White House Correspondents’ Association. President Trump has launched an initiative to construct a new ballroom at the White House to host similar events, in part to address potential security questions at other venues hosting presidential events, but has faced opposition from left-wing politicians and the D.C. court system.
Trump reiterated his reasoning for building a new White House ballroom during a press conference on Saturday night.
“I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” Trump said, noting that the design of the new ballroom would be “much more secure.”
Security concerns aside, the Global Times ultimately lay the blame for the incident on American political culture.
“The root cause of such extreme cases lies in the radicalization of internal political divisions and antagonism within the US,” it claimed, citing a regime-approved “expert,” “when conventional political mechanisms fail to resolve disagreements, and as social fragmentation is currently plaguing the American landscape.”
The Global Times also published a list of international reactions to the shooting on Saturday night that conspicuously did not include any condemnation of the violence or well-wishes for attendees from the Chinese Communist Party.
While not as overt as the Global Times comment, the Chinese flagship news agency Xinhua similarly described an atmosphere of elevated political violence in America in its coverage of the shooting.
“Political violence has been frequent in the U.S. in recent years. Trump has been the target of multiple assassination attempts and death threats during his presidential campaign and as the president,” Xinhua reported. “The most prominent example is the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, which Trump narrowly survived while campaigning for president.”
Chinese media typically report on any reports of political violence in America similarly, suggesting that the Chinese alternative – totalitarian communism – is superior. Following the failed assassination attempt against Trump in July 2024, for example, the Global Times published articles declaring that American politics generally, in which leaders are chosen through free and fair elections, was “extreme and reckless” and that regime-approved users on Chinese social media believed “U.S. democracy is in deep trouble.” Notably, the Chinese government also reportedly blocked the sale of t-shirts bearing the iconic image of a bloodied candidate Trump rising after being shot in the ear during that incident, as it had become popular among the Chinese internet users that were allegedly disillusioned with American politics.
Beyond condemning from a distance, extensive reporting has indicated that the Chinese Communist Party has played a role in cultivating violent political extremism on the American left. In his 2024 book Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans, acclaimed author, researcher, and Breitbart News Senior Contributor Peter Schweizer detailed how several prominent Marxist groups tied to violent riots in 2020 were linked to the Chinese government. Among those organizations named are the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), which openly promoted American support for the genocidal Chinese Communist Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), tied to several leftist riots around the country. Schweizer also noted that Beijing-affiliated billionaire Neville Roy Singham has donated over $100 million to radical leftist organizations in America, including the PSL-linked People’s Forum.
“A lot of people are looking around, and they see that America is on fire,” Schweizer explained in 2024. “What they don’t realize is…the Chinese are basically holding an empty can of gasoline … You look at the funding of some of these radical groups. Two of the biggest funders of the trans movement in the United States are billionaires based in China.”
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