The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the US president.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, could face a potential life sentence if convicted.

Allen wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said they foiled an attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians.

Allen’s hands were cuffed behind his back as US Marshals led him into and out of the courtroom.

At the hearing, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said the weapons Allen brought to Washington included a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three knives.

“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump,” Ballantine said.

He also faces charges of illegally transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh said at a court hearing.

Allen did not respond to the allegations at the brief hearing. He said he had a master’s degree in computer science. Defense lawyer Tezira Abe said at the hearing that Allen had no prior arrests or convictions.

Sharbaugh ordered Allen held in custody until at least Thursday, when he scheduled a separate court hearing to consider prosecutors’ request that he be detained pending trial.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday described the Saturday night attack as the third major assassination attempt against Trump, after two attempts on his life in 2024. She compared the rhetoric in the manifesto to criticism of Trump by his political opponents.

“Much of the manifesto of the would-be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily from so many,” Leavitt said. “The entire Democrat Party has made their pitch to voters across the country that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist.”

Prominent elected Democrats have condemned the shooting.

Video footage Trump posted online showed the suspect sprinting through a hallway outside the ballroom.