Plates clanged, glasses clinked, and at the front of the room sat President Donald Trump, making his long-awaited return to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday.
It was just after 8:30 p.m., in the basement of the Washington Hilton. The president was on stage, locked in conversation with CBS reporter Weijia Jiang; spread out in front of them were thousands of attendees, seated at more than 250 tables, as waiters cleared away their salads.
Then loud popping sounds were heard from the lobby. “I thought it was a tray going down,” Trump would say later.
For the third time in less than two years, Trump found himself under the threat of gunfire. Hundreds of people – table after table – dove to the floor, reporters huddling next to Trump officials and other dinner guests, some draped by white linen tablecloths, others pressed up against the ballroom’s walls.
“Get down, get down!” someone yelled out.
At the front of the room, Secret Service officers first rushed Vice President JD Vance off the stage, then Trump a few seconds later. Other officials in the line of succession, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were quickly whisked away, too.
Law enforcement officials barked out instructions – “Clear a path! Clear a path!” – as they escorted Cabinet members and other senior Trump officials out of the ballroom. Some attendees were injured in the scramble; Harmeet Dhillon, a top Justice Department official, said her head was bruised as agents ran across tables and chairs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel and others gathered with security officials outside.
For minutes, chaos reigned in the ballroom. Some White House officials, who had been sitting at an elevated table overlooking the floor, said they were just as confused about what had just unfolded, even as they watched their colleagues quickly exit the room. Trump and Vance were taken to secure locations, the administration said.
Meanwhile, law enforcement and White House Correspondents’ Association officials gave conflicting guidance – security officers instructing attendees in the lobby to promptly leave, while some media leaders encouraged reporters in the ballroom to stay, insisting that the dinner would go on.
“This is a crime scene,” said one Secret Service officer, telling attendees to keep walking out of the hotel and go a block across the street.
Law enforcement agents climbed over people in the crowded room. At least one man who was having trouble walking was escorted out of the room.
Reporters milled about on the sidewalks outside the hotel. Some interviewed each other, asking what they had seen, and learning little.
Around 9:40 p.m., Trump departed the hotel, accompanied by his security detail and press pool. An hour later, the president addressed the nation from the White House.
“That was very unexpected,” Trump said dryly, thanking law enforcement for their response. “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.”
He also criticized the hotel’s security protocols, reflecting on his prior brushes with violence. Trump was wounded by a shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania, during his 2024 presidential campaign; weeks later, Secret Service agents would foil another would-be assassin who had crouched in the bushes around one of the president’s golf courses.
“It’s not a particularly secure building,” the president said, calling the shooting an example of why his White House ballroom is needed.
Striking an atypical tone, Trump praised the media for their coverage and said he was committed to the free speech ideals that underpinned the dinner, as White House reporters in tuxedos and formalwear peppered him with questions.
“I fought like hell to stay,” Trump said, vowing to return to the dinner and said it would be rescheduled within 30 days.
Saturday’s event was already shaping up as an unusual night in the worlds of politics and media. For more than 60 years, the Washington Hilton has hosted the correspondent’s dinner, an event that has mushroomed from a celebration for White House reporters to a gala replete with pre-parties, post-parties and celebrity encounters.
It was set to be Trump’s first appearance at the annual dinner since 2015. He was a guest of The Washington Post in 2011 – and the target of the sitting U.S. president’s jokes, as Barack Obama tweaked him from stage. Trump refused to attend the event during his first administration, and many of his deputies followed suit.
Sometimes dubbed “The Hinckley Hilton” – following John Hinckley Jr.’s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan outside the hotel more than 45 years ago – the venue has been home to numerous high-profile events, many of which have been attended by sitting presidents and overseen by federal law enforcement familiar with the building’s layout. Guests faced minimal screening to enter the hotel on Saturday night – merely flashing their ticket to get on the grounds.
After the ballroom opened at 7:30 p.m., thousands of guests descended on escalators to the hotel’s lower levels, where they were swiftly whisked through several magnetometers. Security took beer bottles and cocktail glasses away from people as they entered.
But the screening protocols were inconsistent; some guests were told to throw their umbrellas out into a big, blue trash can, while others were allowed to take them inside.
The president entered the ballroom at 8:15 p.m. as a band played “Hail to the Chief.” Trump officials, sprinkled around the room, cheered him loudly. In the middle of the stage hung a banner that read “Celebrating the First Amendment” over a photo of the White House mansion.
About 20 minutes later, the shots rang out. Officers with ballistic vests and long guns took control of the stage as the president and vice president were rushed off. The room fell silent, plates clanging with journalists and Trump administration officials hiding under tables.
Secret Service agents ran from the back of the room, clambering over chairs. “Watch your feet, watch your hands,” some shouted.
Law enforcement officials said they had a suspect in custody and that he would be arraigned in court on Monday.
At the White House two hours later, Trump said that he had planned “the most inappropriate speech ever made,” as he prepared to jibe an army of reporters who he often derides as “fake news.” But that speech may need to be permanently shelved, the president said.
“I’ll be very boring the next time,” Trump joked.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Inside chaotic White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting
Reporting by Dan Diamond, Cat Zakrzewski, Emily Davies, Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
