In the film, a divorced US Capitol Police officer attempts to rescue both his daughter and the President of the United States when a destructive terrorist assault occurs in the White House.

The film stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, and James Woods.

U.S. President James Sawyer makes a controversial proposal to sign a peace agreement with other nations to remove military forces from the Middle East.

Divorced veteran John Cale works as a Capitol Police officer assigned to Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson, whose nephew he saved while serving in Afghanistan.

A paramilitary team led by ex-Delta Force operative Emil Stenz infiltrates the White House, kills various Secret Service agents, and seizes the building.

Walker brings in ex-NSA analyst Skip Tyler to hack the PEOC's defense system, but he needed Sawyer to activate the nuclear football.

Cale and Sawyer contact the command structure via a scrambled satellite phone in the residence and try to escape via a secret tunnel, but find the exit rigged with explosives.

Emily runs outside and waves off the incoming fighter planes with a presidential flag, and the lead air strike pilot aborts the attack.

During the tour, Sawyer receives word that other nations have agreed to his peace deal after learning of the events at the White House, calling for an end to all wars.

The website's critical consensus reads: "White House Down benefits from the leads' chemistry, but director Roland Emmerich smothers the film with narrative clichés and choppily edited action.

[23] Roth Cornet of IGN gave the film a score of 6.5/10, concluding: "White House Down is a pretty silly rehashing of previously tread action movie territory, but if you're willing to laugh along with (or even at) it, it can be a highly entertaining experience.

"[25] Mark Kermode of The Observer gave the film 3/5 stars, writing that it "at least has the good grace to laugh at itself as it rolls out the dingbat-daft action-movie cliches.