1 In 4 Americans Believe Trump Dinner Shooting Was Staged: Survey

A new survey found that about 1 in 4 Americans believe the April shooting at the White House Correspondents' dinner, attended by President Donald Trump, was staged, even though there is no evidence for that claim. 

The survey also found that roughly one-third of Democrats held similar views, compared to about one in eight Republicans, according to Washington Post.

A gunman had opened fire at the Washington Hilton ballroom during the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25. Cole Allen, 31, a California resident, was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.

About 24 per cent of adults believe the Washington Hilton incident was fake, while 45 per cent say it was a real attempt. Another 32 per cent said they are not sure.

About 32 per cent of people aged 18 to 29 said Trump's April 2026 incident was staged, while only 15 percent of those aged 65 and above said the same.

The poll looked at Trump's three assassination events - a July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; a September 2024 incident at Trump's golf club in Florida; and an April 2026 incident at the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington, DC.

The survey says 30 per cent of adults believe at least one of the three incidents was staged, while 38 per cent believe all three were real. On average, 54 per cent of people either think the incidents were staged or are not sure.

Officials have said there is no evidence that any of the attempts were staged, and investigators believe the attackers acted alone in each case.

When asked who believed all three incidents were real, only 15 per cent were Democrats, 38 per cent were Independents, and 47 per cent were Republicans.

In total, 21 per cent of Democratic respondents said they believed all three events were staged, compared with 11 per cent of independents and three per cent of Republicans. The largest disagreement was for the 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania shooting, where 42 per cent of Democrats said it was staged and only seven percent of Republicans said the same.

For the Trump International Golf Club assassination attempt, 26 per cent of Democrats and seven per cent of Republicans said it was staged.

Among those who believed all three incidents were real, only 13 per cent were in the youngest age group.

"It's very striking. Increasingly, people on all sides of the political spectrum are distrustful of both this administration and also the media," said Sofia Rubinson, an editor at NewsGuard, as reported by the Washington Post.

The White House rejected the conspiracy theories about the correspondents' dinner. Spokesperson Davis Ingle in April said, "Anyone who thinks President Trump staged his own assassination attempts is a complete moron."