The suspect of the shooting outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, has been charged with the attempted assassination of the US President.

31-year-old California teacher Cole Allen was allegedly armed with multiple guns and knives, and written documents suggested he'd planned to target Trump officials.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper addressed the fallout from this incident - and the conspiracies. 

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The suspect of the shooting outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, has been charged with the attempted assassination of the US President.
31-year-old California teacher Cole Allen was allegedly armed with multiple guns and knives, and written documents suggested he'd planned to target Trump officials.
Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper addressed the fallout from this incident - and the conspiracies.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/656b5468-65e1-4ced-882f-b43a005aab03/transcript

I’ll tell you what I found most surprising about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the weekend: the number of people who do not believe it really happened or that it was a genuine attempt at all.

There are a remarkable number of people who believe the incident was staged and who are openly discussing that belief, including claims that Trump was not actually shot through the ear a couple of months ago.

Well, it was more than a couple of months ago - but you get the idea.

Within hours of the attempt on his life, the term “staged” appeared in more than 300,000 posts on X. A former CIA agent has gone public saying he thinks it was staged because security moved JD Vance before they moved Donald Trump, which he says is against protocol.

Trump, of course, hasn’t helped matters. In his first news conference afterwards, he argued the assassination attempt proves he needs to build a new ballroom because it would be much safer.

That is obviously not the logic of a normal person who has just been in the same building as someone with a gun who wants to kill them.

And if we’re being honest, it probably doesn’t help that Trump has now had so many assassination attempts on his life that it’s starting to feel like each time it happens, you care a little less. It also doesn’t help - frankly - that it’s Trump. He is so unconventional that it is more believable he would stage a false-flag event like this than, say, Barack Obama, who is far more conventional.

I’m resisting the temptation to take the mickey out of people who don’t believe the assassination attempts were real.

As silly as it seems to me - and I do think it stretches credibility to believe Trump would stage not one but at least two attempts on his own life, given how much could go wrong when weapons are involved - part of me actually takes comfort in the number of people thinking this way.

I might not agree with where they’ve landed, but I like the fact that they are assessing the facts for themselves and reaching conclusions different from mine, different from the majority view, different from the consensus.

It’s strange that this is where some people’s minds go. Clearly, someone tried to kill Trump at the weekend and thinking otherwise is a conspiracy theory.

But maybe conspiracy theories aren’t all bad if they at least show that people are exercising their brains independently.

LISTEN ABOVE

I’ll tell you what I found most surprising about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the weekend: the number of people who do not believe it really happened or that it was a genuine attempt at all.
There are a remarkable number of people who believe the incident was staged and who are openly discussing that belief, including claims that Trump was not actually shot through the ear a couple of months ago.
Well, it was more than a couple of months ago - but you get the idea.
Within hours of the attempt on his life, the term “staged” appeared in more than 300,000 posts on X. A former CIA agent has gone public saying he thinks it was staged because security moved JD Vance before they moved Donald Trump, which he says is against protocol.
Trump, of course, hasn’t helped matters. In his first news conference afterwards, he argued the assassination attempt proves he needs to build a new ballroom because it would be much safer.
That is obviously not the logic of a normal person who has just been in the same building as someone with a gun who wants to kill them.
And if we’re being honest, it probably doesn’t help that Trump has now had so many assassination attempts on his life that it’s starting to feel like each time it happens, you care a little less. It also doesn’t help - frankly - that it’s Trump. He is so unconventional that it is more believable he would stage a false-flag event like this than, say, Barack Obama, who is far more conventional.
I’m resisting the temptation to take the mickey out of people who don’t believe the assassination attempts were real.
As silly as it seems to me - and I do think it stretches credibility to believe Trump would stage not one but at least two attempts on his own life, given how much could go wrong when weapons are involved - part of me actually takes comfort in the number of people thinking this way.
I might not agree with where they’ve landed, but I like the fact that they are assessing the facts for themselves and reaching conclusions different from mine, different from the majority view, different from the consensus.
It’s strange that this is where some people’s minds go. Clearly, someone tried to kill Trump at the weekend and thinking otherwise is a conspiracy theory.
But maybe conspiracy theories aren’t all bad if they at least show that people are exercising their brains independently.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: It's strange where people's minds went on the Donald Trump assassination attempt

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/bb9a1a28-5807-42e7-ae87-b43a007efdb2/transcript

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

There was another assassination attempt on Donald Trump over the weekend, but some have written this off as a 'false flag'. What do we make of this? Do we believe the conspiracies? 

The Maiki Sherman saga - what do we make of this? Should TVNZ sack her? 

The New Zealand-India FTA has been sorted out - what do we think of this? 

LISTEN ABOVE

Tonight on The Huddle, Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson and Child Fund CEO Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
There was another assassination attempt on Donald Trump over the weekend, but some have written this off as a 'false flag'. What do we make of this? Do we believe the conspiracies?&nbsp;
The Maiki Sherman saga - what do we make of this? Should TVNZ sack her?&nbsp;
The New Zealand-India FTA has been sorted out - what do we think of this?&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

The Huddle: Do we believe the Trump conspiracies?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/4172f8e1-c025-4b95-8992-b43a007c6118/transcript

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 28 April.

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 28 April. 
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Full Show Podcast: 28 April 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/9ebcf61b-e293-4319-903e-b43a00766d68/transcript

Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

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