President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man opened fire on security personnel nearby.
The man fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested.
Trump told reporters at a hastily arranged briefing at the White House later that the officer was saved by his bulletproof vest and was in “good shape.” U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed the officer had been released from hospital.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was the target of the attack, though he told reporters he believed that he was.
The president has survived two previous attempts on his life since 2024, a period of deepening political polarization in the United States.
SUSPECT THOUGHT TO BE ‘LONE WOLF,’ TRUMP SAYS
A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a California resident about 31 years old. Little was immediately known about Allen’s background, but social media postings suggested he was a teacher in Torrance, near Los Angeles.
Washington interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
He was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated but it was too soon to say what his motivation was, Carroll said.
Based on preliminary information, he was believed to have been a guest at the hotel, Carroll added.
The chaotic events from around 8:35 p.m. (0035 GMT on Sunday) raised fresh questions about the security of top U.S. officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel’s expansive ballroom.
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A focus of the investigation is likely to be how the gunman was able to smuggle the shotgun into the hotel, which hosts the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, a marquee fixture of Washington’s social calendar.
The black-tie event was attended by many members of Trump’s cabinet and other senior administration officials amid heavy security. It was the first time Trump attended the event as president, having boycotted it in previous years.
Afterward, Trump addressed reporters, many still in evening attire, in an extraordinary late-night press conference in the White House briefing room, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet members. Trump’s wife Melania looked on from the sidelines and demurred when he asked her whether she wanted to talk about the events of the evening.
The venue for the dinner was the scene of an attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan, who was shot and wounded by a would-be assassin outside the hotel in 1981.
Closed-circuit TV footage released by Trump on Truth Social showed the suspect running rapidly through a security checkpoint, momentarily catching security personnel off-guard before they drew their weapons.
No shots were fired at the gunman who got through two checkpoints before being brought down.
“You know, he charged from 50 yards away, so he was very far away from the room. He was moving. He was really moving,” Trump said after the gala dinner was canceled.
Officials believe he is a “lone wolf,” Trump said.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
Video footage shows Trump and his wife sitting at a banquet table on stage in conversation with someone when a commotion at the rear of the ballroom – caused by the noise of gunshots – triggers a ripple of gasps through the room.
People started screaming “Get down, get down!” Many of the 2,600 attendees dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns took cover under tables as security personnel drew their weapons, with some pushing cabinet secretaries to the floor and covering them with their bodies while others formed a protective cordon.
Security personnel in combat fatigues stormed the stage pointing rifles into the ballroom as Trump, his wife and Vance were evacuated.
Cabinet members who had been sitting at tables dotted around the vast room were escorted out by their security details one by one.
While most guests huddled under tables, some people began chanting “USA, USA!”
Trump stayed backstage for about an hour after being hustled from the stage, a source told Reuters.
He later said he had not wanted to leave the event, a remark that echoed images of him defiantly pumping his fist after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
In that attempt, Trump was shot and wounded in his upper ear by a 20-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by security personnel.
Just over two months after the Butler shooting, Secret Service agents spotted a man wielding a gun and hiding in bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was on the course.
It was deemed an assassination attempt and the suspect was sentenced to life in prison in February.