The president later confirmed that one Secret Service agent had been shot during the incident, but is ‘doing great.’
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening after an assailant breached a security checkpoint near the ballroom and shot a Secret Service agent.
The Secret Service has confirmed that the president, the first lady, and all protectees are safe. The agency said the alleged shooter is in custody.
Several Epoch Times staff on the scene heard shots and witnessed the reaction. Immediately after around five shots rang out, Secret Service agents rushed the stage.
Later in the evening Trump shared photos on Truth Social of the alleged suspect on the ground, with his arms behind his back. He also posted security footage showing a man rushing through the security perimeter.
“He was running full blast,” Trump said during a press briefing at the White House after the incident. “And they got him before they got any further, I was very far away.”
The president also confirmed that one Secret Service agent had been shot during the incident.
“One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing an obviously, a very good bulletproof vest,” Trump said from the White House briefing room. “He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun.”
The president said he had spoken with the agent and that he was “doing great.
Trump said the suspect is from California and authorities were going to investigate his apartment. He described the man as “very sick.”
“My impression was that he was a lone wolf,” Trump said.
At the briefing, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche praised law enforcement and said the investigation is “ongoing and just started.”
“The charges should be self evident, given the conduct, but as you’ll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting, around the possession of firearms and anything else that we can get on this guy,” he said.
“There is federal law enforcement already working on search warrants and doing their job, and I don’t want to get ahead of them.”
FBI Director Kash Patel urged people to call the agency with tips if they had information. He said that the process of examining the suspect’s background had already begun.
“We will analyze all evidence immediately to make sure that we safeguard this country,” Patel said at the briefing.
Trump was attending the dinner for the first time as president and he was scheduled to deliver a speech at approximately 9 p.m. ET. He was seated on stage at the front of the ballroom.
During the briefing, he recounted that he heard a noise at the dinner and thought it was “a tray going down.”
Though the shooter’s exact motivations were unclear, Trump indicated he thought he was the target. “I guess,” he said, when asked whether he thought the shooter was targeting him.
“The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact,” he said. “They’re the ones that they go after. They don’t go after the ones that don’t do much, because they like it that way.”
Trump faced two assassination attempts as a candidate during the 2024 presidential race, including one at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump told reporters on Saturday night that he wouldn’t stop participating in events because of the violence he faced.
What Happened?
Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service chief of communications, said in a post on X that the agency, “in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area.”
At around 9:05 p.m., Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association announced that the evening events are resuming and more details about the incident will be provided as they get them. However, at 9:41 p.m., Jiang delivered an emotional speech announcing the cancellation of the event.
Trump posted a message on Truth Social at 9:17 p.m. stating that he would be guided by law enforcement before returning to the ballroom.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” the president wrote. “The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Connecticut Avenue, where the Hilton Hotel is located, has been closed to vehicles and pedestrians.
At 9:36 p.m. Trump posted on social media that the dinner was officially canceled and he will hold a press conference shortly.
“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately,” Trump wrote. “I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room. The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in a half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a black-tie gala involving hundreds of media personalities, business leaders, celebrities, lawmakers, and Cabinet officials to celebrate the Fourth Estate and the reporters who cover the White House.
Attendees arrived on the red carpet beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
On March 2 this year, Trump announced his intention to attend in a Truth Social post, “It will be my honor to accept their invitation and work to make it the greatest, hottest, and most spectacular dinner of any kind, ever.”
The Correspondents’ Association was founded in 1914 to secure freedom of the press and protect access to the White House, and the first dinner took place in 1921. The first time a president attended was 1924.
Jan Jekielek and Travis Gillmore contributed to this report.
By Emel Akan
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