Trump Survives Third Assassination Attempt, Then Immediately Campaigns for the White House Ballroom Project—Crypto Firms Including Coinbase and Gemini Are Donors
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Trump Survives Third Assassination Attempt, Then Immediately Campaigns for the White House Ballroom Project—Crypto Firms Including Coinbase and Gemini Are Donors
The political deal-making logic behind dance halls is more worthy of the crypto industry’s attention than gunshots.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Tina Nguyen (Senior Reporter, The Verge)
Translated by TechFlow
TechFlow Digest: During the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD), a shooting occurred, prompting an emergency evacuation of Donald Trump. That same evening, at a press briefing, Trump pivoted directly to promoting his controversial $400 million White House ballroom project—a facility funded by donations from tech and crypto firms. Coinbase, Gemini, Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft all appear on the donor list. The political calculus behind the ballroom is far more consequential for the crypto industry than the gunfire itself.
On the evening of April 25, an armed man attempted to breach the White House Correspondents’ Dinner held at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Present at the event were Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Senior Advisor Stephen Miller—along with hundreds of members of the White House press corps.
The gunman exchanged fire with law enforcement officers at the hotel’s security checkpoint but failed to penetrate the secured perimeter leading to the underground banquet hall. One U.S. Secret Service agent was shot but is expected to recover, having been wearing a bulletproof vest. The suspect was apprehended on the spot.
Within hours of being evacuated, Trump did what he does best: he transformed an assassination attempt into a platform for advancing his own agenda.
Ballroom Promotion Live on Camera
At that night’s White House press briefing, Trump told reporters: “The Washington Hilton is not a particularly secure building. I didn’t want to say this, but that’s precisely why we’re building all the facilities we’ve planned for the White House. That room is larger—and far safer.”
The next morning, he doubled down on Truth Social: “Last night’s incident is exactly why, for the past 150 years, the military, the Secret Service, and law enforcement agencies have urged constructing a large, secure ballroom inside the White House. Had the currently under-construction, military-grade, top-secret ballroom already been completed, this would never have happened. Construction isn’t moving fast enough!”
He also dismissed lawsuits challenging the ballroom as “absurd,” demanding they be withdrawn immediately: “Nothing should interfere with construction—the project remains on budget and significantly ahead of schedule!”
The $400 Million Ballroom: Crypto Firms’ “Oath of Allegiance”
The White House ballroom is one of the most contentious initiatives of Trump’s second term. In October last year, Trump abruptly ordered the demolition of the East Wing to launch this $400 million project. Last month, however, a federal judge halted construction.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit, alleging Trump demolished the East Wing without first obtaining congressional approval, as required under federal law.
What truly caught the crypto industry’s attention, though, is the list of donors. Funded by a nonprofit foundation, the ballroom project counts Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft—as well as crypto firms Coinbase and Gemini—among its contributors. It is widely believed these donations are intended to secure favorable policy treatment from Trump on technology and cryptocurrency issues.
The Suspect and Timeline of Events
Preliminary reports identify the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California, a paid guest at the Washington Hilton. Security screening in the hotel lobby is less stringent than at the banquet hall entrance; Allen launched his assault via the guest access corridor.
Law enforcement believes Allen targeted Trump and other senior government officials present at the event. His precise motive remains under investigation, with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit now involved.
This marks Trump’s third assassination attempt—making him the U.S. president who has faced the most such incidents in American history. The first occurred during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, when a bullet grazed his ear. The second took place later that same year at Mar-a-Lago, where a federal agent fatally shot a man attempting to open fire on the golf course. The Washington Hilton itself has prior infamy: In 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan outside the hotel.
Political Fallout Has Already Begun
Democratic Senator John Fetterman posted on X in support of the ballroom: “We were right there in the front row. That venue was never designed to accommodate the full succession chain of the U.S. government. Enough with the TDS—build the ballroom.”
The Department of Justice has also written to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urging it to withdraw its lawsuit, citing the shooting as proof that the ballroom is “critically important to the President’s safety.”
Trump announced the dinner will be rescheduled within 30 days. He had originally planned to deliver a scathing critique of the media during his speech: “I fought like hell to stay. I was ready to tear them apart.”
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