This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 357.

… Trump and Republicans have predictably seized upon the shooting incident at last night’s WHCA dinner to push for suppression of free speech and dismissal of the court case that is temporarily halting some of his beloved ballroom construction.

… AP: “Video showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering. The gunman was tackled to the ground and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital.”

… CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs: “The shooting happened on the level above the ballroom where the dinner was. I don’t think people hearing about this - or even those of us in the room - realized how far from the president, VP and other guests this incident was. It was on another floor, up some stairs and several sets of security away.”

… Reese Gorman with NOTUS: “I was talking with a GOP lawmaker at the WHCD last night right after the shooting who was appalled at the lack of security entering the Washington Hilton. There were 0 magnetometer or security checkpoints prior to entering the Washington Hilton. All you needed to do to get in was flash a ticket or a screenshot of an email, there was no actual inspection of what you showed anyone.”

… “In my case they didn’t even check my phone or ticket they let me through because I was with someone who had already flashed their ticket. You didn’t reach your first and only security checkpoint until you went down the escalator and were right outside the ballroom. No ID’s were checked. There’s significantly more security at some Trump rallies I’ve been to. And this dinner had the President, VP and Speaker in attendance.”

… Karoline Leavitt on Fox right before the event started: “This speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room, so everyone should tune in.”

… Minutes after the shooting, Dep. WH Chief of Staff and former Trump golf caddie Dan Scavino got up and tried to lead attendees in a “USA! USA!” chant by screaming it out several times. Not one person joined him and he walked out.

… Trump then held a press conference at the event:

• “When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone.”

• “This is not a particularly secure building. And I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all the attributes of what we have planned at the WH. It’s a much larger room and much more secure, it’s got bulletproof glass. That’s why we need the ballroom.

• “I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I’m, I think I handle it as well - as well as it can be handled. To be honest with you, I’m not a basket case.”

• “We’re not going to cancel things because we can’t do that. We wanted to stay tonight, I will tell you, I, I fought like hell to stay, but it was protocol—they said, please, sir.”

• He said he wants the event to be rescheduled because he has a great speech ready: “I was all set to really rip it. I’ll have to save it. I don’t know if I can ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I’m going to be probably very nice. I’ll be very boring the next time, but we’re going to have a great event.”

… Kash Patel then praised Trump: “Mr. President, you inspire them 24/7, 365 You give them the resources that they need and you know, they know that you have their back, and that is a changing dynamic in this country and that’s why you saw a brave Secret Service agents respond immediately, swiftly, subdue and take down the suspect and safeguard the lives of thousands of individuals at that hotel.”

… Monica Crowley, Chief of Protocol at the WH: “Once again, you witnessed the Hand of God tonight.”

… Franklin Graham posted: “After three assassination attempts, some people say that President Trump is one lucky man. I don’t think luck has anything to do with it - I believe it is the hand of God. What do you think?”

… I think Franklin Graham is a nepo-baby charlatan who weaponizes the Bible to advance his political agenda.

… Immediately after the incident, MAGA supporters received their marching orders and blasted out coordinated propaganda posts on X trying to use it as justification for Trump’s ballroom monstrosity.

… Which also includes Sen. John Fetterman these days: “We were there front and center. That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the US govt. After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the WH ballroom for events exactly like these.”

… Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) took it a step further and said taxpayers should pay for it: “Any consideration of DHS reconciliation instructions this week and beyond should provide for construction of a secure ballroom on WH grounds.”

… Dep. AG Todd Blanche then sent a letter to the National Trust for Historic Preservation demanding they dismiss their lawsuit against the ballroom: “You lawsuit puts the lives of the president, his family, and his staff at grave risk. I hope yesterday’s narrow miss will help you finally realize the folly of your lawsuit.”

… Former MAGA influencer and Elon Musk baby-mama Ashley St. Claire: “All of MAGA is paid and they coordinate their messaging in lockstep via groupchats. All of these people came to the conclusion that after what they saw at the WHCD, their first thought was ‘Trump needs his ballroom’? One of the main groupchats in which they coordinate this messaging is literally called ‘Fight, Fight, Fight!’ after the ‘attempt’ on Trump’s life in Butler”

… Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) received quite a bit of ridicule after she suggested that actor Ben Stiller may be involved or complicit when he made this 3-word post: “Got it done.” Mace responded: Got what done?” Her reply was hit with this Community Note: “He was rooting for the Knicks to win their game against the Atlanta Hawks. And they did.”

… Journalist David Shuster: “Last night, CNN, TMZ, CBS and others reported the dinner gunman was ‘confirmed dead.’ In fact, he was alive and had not been shot. (Just shot at). At a dinner honoring WH reporting, the rush to be first instead of being accurate was on full display. Speaks volumes.”

… Daily Mail on the shooter: “On LinkedIn, he describes himself as: ‘A mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.’ Allen earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the CA Institute of Tech and later a M.S. in Computer Science from a CA State Univ. During his time at Caltech, Allen listed his involvement in the Caltech Christian Fellowship.”

… CA-based elections analyst Rob Pyers on shooter: “Registered as a No Party Preference voter in LA County. FEC records show a single $25 contribution via ActBlue to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.”

… From the shooter’s manifesto, which he sent to his family minutes before the incident:

• “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. (Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.)”

• “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest. In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls)”

• “I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

• “Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial. I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this admin. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

… Seems a bit odd that he would exclude Patel from his hit list. Wonder what the reason is for that?

… CBS: “Allen’s brother had notified New London PD (CT) of the alleged manifesto he had sent to his family members prior to the incident. Family members told investigators Allen would regularly go to the shooting range to train with his firearms. The official said Allen was part of a group called ‘The Wide Awakes’ and attended a ‘No Kings’ protest in CA.”

… Trump then posted Sunday morning: “What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE. This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the WH!”

… Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) was on CNN. Dana Bash: “You and your fellow Democrats have used some heated rhetoric against the president. Do you think twice about that when something like that happens? Raskin: What rhetoric do you have in mind? Bash: That he’s terrible for this country and so on and so forth.”

… Todd Blanche on CBS: Q - “The alleged shooter had multiple weapons. In DC, open carry is not permitted. You just said he traveled from CA across the country by train. How did he do that? Blanche: This isn’t about in my mind changing the law, or making the laws more restrictive around firearms. Host: I’m asking about crossing state lines with firearms. Blanche: I don’t think that’s something we should be focused on.”

… Mehdi Hasan: “They want to use the alleged assassination attempt to build a ballroom (!) and crack down on the left but not touch gun laws, oh no, never that.”

… Peter Doocy on Fox: “We should expect in the coming days to hear about major security improvements - that could include Trump having to wear a bullet-proof vest when he is out in public.”

… When the announcement was made that the dinner was canceled, that started a run on people grabbling bottles of wine and champagne off the tables. Some for takeout later, others decided not to wait.

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… While multiple corporate media outlets reported that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were heading to Pakistan to meet with the Iranian delegation led by their foreign minister, readers of this Bulletin on Friday knew that the whole thing was another typical Trump admin Friday afternoon charade to manipulate the markets.

… I documented in the Friday Bulletin how multiple Iranian officials repeatedly denied that they would attend any meeting with the US and were calling BS on US media reporting this - specifically singling out Axios and CNN for laundering Trump admin propaganda on phantom peace talks. I also documented how the price of oil dropped right after those false reports on Friday.

… But Trump continued to lie about it: “You probably heard that we canceled the trip. We have all the cards. We’re not going to spend 15 hours in airplanes all the time, going back and forth, to be given a document that was not good enough. So, we’ll deal by telephone, and they can call us any time they want. If they want, they can call me. We have all the cards. We won everything.”

… Trump then said he was not going to try to send Vance, Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan again since Iran keeps rejecting him: “We’re not going to be traveling 15, 16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody ever heard of. Too much travel. Takes too long. Too expensive. I’m a very cost-conscious person.”

… He said this on the tarmac in Palm Beach as he flew on AF1 there for a dinner at Mar-a-Lago for his crypto investors before flying back to the WHCA dinner in DC the next day.

… Middle East analysts Danny Citrinowitz: “The assumption that a naval blockade will compel Iran’s current leadership to abandon its nuclear program, missile arsenal, and regional proxy network is as flawed as the belief that the Iranian regime can be toppled from the air, or that eliminating Khamenei would lead to meaningful regime change.”

… NBC: “US military bases and other equipment in the Persian Gulf region suffered extensive damage from Iranian strikes that is far worse than publicly acknowledged and is expected to cost billions of dollars to repair. The Iranian regime swiftly retaliated after the Trump admin attacked, hitting dozens of targets across US military bases in 7 Middle East countries. Those attacks struck warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite comms infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems and dozens of aircraft.”

… “In the initial days of the war, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet bombed the US base Camp Buehring in Kuwait, despite the base having air defenses, a rare breach that marked the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has struck an American military base in years. The US bases that came under attack are home to thousands of American troops, and in some cases their families.”

… NYT: “All 4 Black Republicans in the House are leaving Congress next year: 3 are seeking statewide office, and one is retiring because redistricting in his state effectively boxed him out of his seat. The exodus is a reflection of the striking and persistent lack of diversity in the GOP ranks of Congress.”

… There is no Black Republican House candidate favored to win a House seat anywhere in the US during the midterms, which would leave the House with no Black Republican representatives in 2027.

… DCCC spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre: “Republicans won’t have any Black members in the next Congress because Republicans have no interest in actually representing Black voters.”

… NYT: “During President Trump’s first month in office, his admin upended much of the flagship global HIV program that had saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Zambia. The Zambian govt went into emergency mode, desperate to ensure that people with the virus could continue to receive lifesaving medications. Crucial aspects of the program had to be scrapped - interventions that had helped stop the spread of the virus and protected the most vulnerable people.”

… “Today, a pared-down system is operating on reduced US support, and Zambia may lose that help entirely in the next few days. The Trump admin has set an April 30 deadline for the Zambian govt to accept a new health funding agreement that is tied to giving the US expanded access to the country’s mineral resources. If Zambia doesn’t sign, officials warn that Washington could cut off all of its HIV aid, a situation health officials here say would be disastrous.”

… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): “I have been clear from the start: the US Attorney’s Office criminal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell was a serious threat to the Fed’s independence, and it needed to end before I could support Kevin Warsh’s confirmation. I take DOJ at its word: the investigation is closed, and any appeal of Judge Boasberg’s ruling will be with respect to legal principles and not for the purpose of reissuing subpoenas.”

… Only a criminal referral from the IG would cause a reopening of the investigation.
With these assurances, I look forward to supporting Kevin Warsh’s confirmation. He is an outstanding nominee, and it is time for the Fed Reserve to move beyond this distraction and return its full attention to its mission.”

… Trump continued to claim on Fox today that Democrats cheated in the VA redistricting referendum: "I happen to think there was a lot of cheating going on in Virginia. We were leading all day long - the Republicans. All of the sudden there was a ballot drop."

… The Salt Lake Tribune: “Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary plans to build a massive hyperscale data center project in Box Elder County. The board that oversees the state’s Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, approved a series of resolutions to move the multibillion-dollar project forward, agreeing to move fast and charge far lower taxes than usual to help O’Leary ‘lure the hyperscalers’ to UT.”

… O’Leary posted on Facebook: “Luckily, in Utah, I found 3 senators and Gov. Cox, pro-business, pro-data centers, but the ball’s back in their court now. We’ve announced that we need every incentive we can get out of that state because we have to raise billions to build this power, and then the data centers that come afterwards.”

… “MIDA usually imposes a 6% energy use tax on its developments. But to stay competitive with others trying to land deals with the same companies, board members were asked to approve a sharply reduced rate for the project’s data centers. The board agreed to set it at 0.5%.”

… “Its first phase is expected to require about 3 gigawatts of power - nearly matching UT’s average statewide electricity use of roughly 4 gigawatts. At full buildout the campus would reach 9 gigawatts, more than double the state’s current total energy consumption.”

… WaPo: “The top holders of Trump’s meme coin were rewarded Sat with a lavish conference at Mar-a-Lago, where they received Trump-branded swag, listened to industry evangelists and scored facetime with the president. Trump’s crypto has flagged in popularity, and its top buyer has sued the Trump family’s other crypto business.”

… “The top 297 investors joined 18 ‘global superstars,’ including boxer Mike Tyson, motivational speaker Tony Robbins and prominent crypto executives and investors. Guests received a Trump-branded fragrance, a commemorative poster and a ‘Fight Fight Fight Red Beauty Watch,’ which typically retails for $499, promoters say. The top 29 VIPs received a ‘very, very special’ talk about the history of Mar-a-Lago.”

… Trump drained the Reflecting Pool and had workers painting the ground underneath it blue so it would look more like a swimming pool.

… Trump made a post where he claimed it was a mess when Obama was president. It received the following fact-check Community Note: “These images are identical, note the clouds and floating birds are the exact same, except the left image has been altered to make the water appear dirtier than in the original image. The original image was also taken in 2004, when George W. Bush was president.”