U.S. President Donald Trump was rushed from the stage at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday amid gunshots after an armed man allegedly tried to barrel through a security checkpoint in the hallway outside the event.
The President was unhurt, as were First Lady Melania Trump and several cabinet members and other officials who attended the event.
Mr. Trump was attending the dinner at the Washington Hilton for the first time as president when, a few minutes after he entered the hall and took a seat on-stage, gunshots rang out.
Within moments, members of the Secret Service rushed Mr. Trump off-stage, along with Ms. Trump, and other senior administration officials, including Vice-President JD Vance. Other attendees dove under tables for cover.
Later, at the White House, Mr. Trump said that a man “armed with multiple weapons” had charged one of the Secret Service checkpoints outside the ballroom. Officers quickly subdued and arrested the suspect, he said. One Secret Service agent was shot in his bullet-proof vest but is “in great shape.”
The Associated Press, citing two unnamed law enforcement officials, identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.
The President released security camera footage showing a figure running down a hallway in the hotel before a large group of officers draw their weapons and run towards the person. He also released a photo of the suspect lying shirtless on the floor with his arms secured behind his back. Mr. Trump said police are in the process of searching the suspect’s apartment.
Mr. Trump, who survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential election, said that when he first heard the gunshots, he assumed it was the sound of a serving tray falling. He said Ms. Trump told him “that’s a bad noise.”
“It was very quick. There wasn’t a lot of time to be thinking,” he said, before describing the presidency as a “dangerous profession.”
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had requested that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON.” On the orders of police, however, the event was cancelled. The President later said at the White House that he hoped to reschedule within the next 30 days.
Mr. Trump said the incident highlighted why the White House needs to build his planned ballroom, which is currently tied up in litigation after he demolished part of the building last year to make way for it.
“This is why we have to have all the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” he said. “We need the ballroom.”
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who was attending the dinner, told the network that he witnessed the shooting as he left the washroom. He said a gunman was firing randomly before being shot by law enforcement.
Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News reporter and White House Correspondents’ Association board member who was at the head table with Mr. Trump, wrote on X that the President’s security detail said someone with a gun had tried to get through the metal detectors set up outside the ballroom. She said a “counter assault team” had taken the suspect “offsite.”
At first, event organizers said they intended to continue with the evening but were ultimately dissuaded by police. The assembled Washington press corps, dressed in black tie and cocktail dresses, rushed to the White House instead for Mr. Trump’s news conference.
“Everybody is safe. The President will be having a press briefing at the White House in 30 minutes -- that is not a joke,” Weijia Jiang, a CBS correspondent and the president of the association, told the room. “He insists that we will reschedule this event in the next 30 days and that he wanted to do it tonight, he wanted to continue despite that news, but has to follow security protocol.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney joined a chorus of world leaders condemning the violence and expressing relief that Mr. Trump was safe.
“Political violence has no place in any democracy and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event,” he said in a statement.
During the 2024 election campaign, Mr. Trump survived two assassination attempts. During the first, in Butler, Pa., in July of that year, 20-year-old sniper Thomas Crooks opened fire on Mr. Trump during a rally, grazing Mr. Trump’s ear and killing a member of the audience. Mr. Crooks was then gunned down by the Secret Service.
During the second, in September, Ryan Routh laid in wait next to one of Mr. Trump’s golf courses in West Palm Beach, Fla. with a rifle. He was discovered by the Secret Service, however, who fired on him. He fled, was captured shortly after, was convicted last year and is currently serving a life prison sentence.
Mr. Trump skipped the other five correspondents’ dinners during his presidency after repeatedly deriding reporters as “fake news.” He attended the dinner before his first presidency, when then-president Barack Obama mocked Mr. Trump for promoting the birther conspiracy theory.
The hotel where the dinner is held every year is the same one outside of which, in 1981, John Hinckley shot then-president Ronald Reagan. Mr. Reagan was rushed to hospital and survived.
Other administration officials at the dinner on Saturday were Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and FBI Director Kash Patel. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was spotted returning to the ballroom after the shooting.