President Donald Trump and other White House officials were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night while cameras rolled in the ballroom following a “shooting incident.”
The president later called the situation “shocking” when talking with reporters at the White House. The reporters at the briefing were the same ones at the dinner with the president. They ducked under ballroom tables to take cover when Secret Service stormed the stage to secure top White House officials and scan for threats.
U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said the Metropolitan Police Department, together with Secret Service, is investigating what happened near the security screening area at the press event.
“The president and the first lady are safe along all protectees,” he said. “One individual is in custody.”
One officer was shot, Trump said at a press briefing, but saved by the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
“I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great,” Trump told reporters.
How the situation unfolded
A man armed with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint and was taken down by Secret Service, Trump said. FBI director Kash Patel said they found a long gun and shell casings on scene.
Interim Washington, D.C., police chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect had a shotgun, handgun and knives on him. At this time, investigators do not think anyone else is involved, he said. The motive is still not clear.
The suspect, Carroll said, is believed to have been a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel where the dinner was. While the suspect was taken to the hospital for evaluation, he was not struck, Carroll said.
Trump posted blurry surveillance footage to his Truth Social account of the suspected shooter running past the checkpoint. He also posted photos of the suspect face-down on the ground of the event space, arms tied behind his back.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” Trump wrote on Truth Social roughly one hour after the shooting. “The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON.'”
Despite his urgings that the event resume, the president later posted to his social media that law enforcement requested everyone leave the event. At the press conference, Trump said he “fought like hell” to stay.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang delivered the president’s written remarks from the ballroom stage at the Hilton, including his desire to reschedule the event within 30 days.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the suspect is being charged preliminarily with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon. There could be more filed, though, she added.
“This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press. And in a certain way, it did,” Trump said in the briefing room. “I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, a very beautiful thing to see.”
Ballroom security
Saturday night’s event took place at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. While praising law enforcement for swift action, the president also addressed his security concerns.
“It’s not a particularly secure building, and I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” he said of the contested ballroom project in the East Wing. “It’s actually a larger room, and it’s much more secure. It’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military, are demanding it.”
“We need levels of security that probably nobody has seen before,” he added.
President Trump survived an assassination attempt while campaigning in 2024 near Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet grazed his ear while he was speaking on stage. He survived a second attempt on his life months later while golfing in Florida.