Bruce Springsteen struck a conciliatory tone Sunday night, setting aside his long-running feud with Donald Trump to open his Austin concert with a message of unity after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
Springsteen has often been a vocal critic of the president, calling for him to be impeached and describing him as “incompetent” and “treasonous.”
Trump has clapped back, calling the singer a “prune” and “obnoxious JERK.” But at his Austin concert, Springsteen appeared to temporarily put aside their feud after Trump and his inner circle were targeted by a shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The alleged shooter, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, did not reach Trump or any guests of the dinner, but attempted to charge into the ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night in a chaotic scene that resulted in five to eight shots being fired, sources told CBS News.
President Trump and the first lady were escorted out of the ballroom along with Vice President JD Vance and other top administration officials.
Following the shooting, Springsteen opened his Sunday performance on the “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour with a “prayer of thanks,” expressing gratitude for the safety of the president and all those who attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
After opening with a prayer for U.S. service members overseas, he added: “We also send out a prayer of thanks that our president, nor anyone in the administration, nor anyone attending was injured in last night’s incident at the press correspondents’ dinner.”
“We can disagree. We can be critical of those in power, and we can peacefully fight for our beliefs, but there is no place in any way, shape, or form for political violence of any kind in our beloved United States,” he continued.
Authorities said one Secret Service agent was struck during the confrontation but avoided serious injury thanks to a protective vest.
According to interim D.C. Police Chief Jeff Carroll, the suspect was carrying a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives.
Allen—who is not affiliated with any political party—faces charges including using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said, “This individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could.”
Investigators say Allen sent a lengthy manifesto to family members shortly before the shooting. In it, he referred to himself as the “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen,” and outlined plans to target Trump and senior administration officials, while excluding FBI Director Kash Patel for unclear reasons.
The 1,052-word document included inflammatory claims, with Allen writing he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” He also said he aimed to limit casualties, stating Secret Service agents would only be targeted “if necessary” and other law enforcement “unless they shoot at me.”
Allen added that guests and staff were not intended targets, though he wrote, “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.”
Trump rejected the accusations in an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell, saying he is not a rapist or a pedophile.
