Repeated gunshots heard near White House lawn during the president’s meeting to sign a peace deal with Iran

After months of upheaval in the Middle East, last night was supposed to be one for the history books, with President Donald Trump and his aides in the weeds trying to finalize a deal with Iran, assisted by almost every other country in the region.

Then, just after 6 p.m. ET, the sound of dozens of gunshots shattered the relative calm of the North Lawn, sending Secret Service agents scrambling in all directions to secure the White House perimeter. 

According to the reports, a man approached a security checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. He pulled a weapon from his bag and opened fire on officers, which compelled the agents on the scene to return fire.

A civilian bystander was also struck in the exchange, reported to be in critical condition, though it remained unclear Saturday night whether the bystander was hit by the suspect’s rounds or return fire from officers.

We’re beginning to lose count of the number of times this has played out before and during Trump’s second presidency. Only last month, a 31-year-old California man named Cole Tomas Allen ran past the security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives, striking one Secret Service officer in a bullet vest before being subdued.

The suspect was identified by multiple law enforcement sources as 21-year-old Nasire Best of Maryland. While people on social media were quick to accuse Iran, Israel, and even Democrats of orchestrating yet another attack on President Trump, it turned out that Nasire had a documented history of encounters with the Secret Service going back to the summer of 2025.

A repeat offender

Court records cited by CNN show that in June 2025, Best blocked a vehicle entry lane at the White House complex — and get this: he claimed to be God, and was involuntarily committed to the Psychiatric Institute of Washington for a mental health evaluation.

That Trump is turning into a magnet for all of these troublemakers is concerning in and of itself, but I don’t know whether to attribute the recurrence of these incidents to a Secret Service that keeps finding new ways to be caught flat-footed or a political climate so poisoned that violence feels like a logical endpoint to too many people.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Trump had claimed on Truth Social that details of the new agreement with Iran would be announced shortly, and with tensions running as high as they are in the Middle East, the episode will probably influence the tenuous diplomatic lifeline.