Security footage showed the assailant, who authorities identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, rushing past a security checkpoint at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner before he opened fire.
“He ran 45 yards, they say, and he just went to it, and then ― boom ― he popped through it,” Trump said, later jokingly adding: “I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast!”
Trump credited the police and Secret Service for quickly responding to the “blur.”
“It was amazing because as soon as they saw that, you could see them draw their guns,” Trump said. “They were so professional. Aimed their guns, and then they took him down immediately.”
A Secret Service agent was struck in the chest but was protected by a bulletproof vest and is expected to recover. Allen was apprehended alive, and no one was seriously injured in the attempt on the president’s life.
Allen is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Monday.
