For the second time in a month, gunfire erupted near a venue where Donald Trump was present and Secret Service responded with force. Saturday evening’s shooter was a 21 year old Maryland man named Nasire Best, who pulled a revolver from his bag at a White House checkpoint and was shot dead by agents. Trump’s response arrived Sunday morning and covered both the shooting and the ballroom.
Best was already known to the Secret Service. He was detained on June 26, 2025 for flagging down agents and making threats, and again on July 10, 2025 for entering a restricted area.
Even with that history, he arrived at the checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW just after 6 p.m. ET, pulled a revolver from his bag and opened fire. Secret Service agents returned fire, struck him and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. One bystander on the street was also hit during the exchange.
At the time of the shooting, Trump was in the Oval Office with aides Steven Cheung, Natalie Harp and Margo Martin. Outside, reporters gathered on the North Lawn were suddenly told to sprint to the briefing room as agents shouted “get down” and “shots fired.”
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Journalists on the scene estimated hearing between 20 and 30 rounds before the lockdown was lifted just before 6:50 p.m. ET.
Trump’s first public response came early Sunday morning on Truth Social, where he praised the Secret Service.
“Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure,” he wrote.
“The gunman is dead after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service Agents near the White House gates.”
The post later shifted toward the ballroom project.
“This event is one month removed from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, and goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it!”
Online reaction followed soon after. MeidasTouch posted the Truth Social screenshot on X with one line: “Trump uses today’s shooting incident outside the White House to demand his ballroom.”
Trump uses today’s shooting incident outside the White House to once again demand his ballroom pic.twitter.com/qYRh35D5t0
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) May 24, 2026
The ballroom argument has one major weakness. Saturday’s shooting did not happen inside the White House complex. It happened on a public street corner outside the gates, meaning the ballroom itself would not have changed where the gunfire started.
The security argument only works if the threat begins inside the building itself, not outside the gates. That distinction has not appeared in Trump’s posts about the shooting.
The latest shooting now joins a growing list of incidents around Trump. Late last month, alleged Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Allen was formally indicted on charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
