WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was uninjured as he and other top leaders of the U.S. were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after at the event.
CNN reported that the shooter is a 30-year-old man from Los Angeles. The FBI reported, “The subject is in custody.”
One law enforcement officer was shot by the gunman but saved from serious injury by a bulletproof vest.
Some inside the Washington Hilton banquet hall, which was filled with several thousand journalists, reported hearing five to eight shots fired. Others, immediately after the incident, described them as “loud bangs,” not certain at the time if it really had been gunfire.
Around 10:30 p.m., about two hours after the chaotic incident, Trump . He said the shooter had “multiple weapons,” but that Secret Security officers rushed the gunman and took him down.
Trump said the shooter “attacked our Constitution,” and that the correspondents dinner was intended to be a night focused on “free speech.”
“They seem to feel he was a lone wolf, and I think that, too,” Trump said. “A lone wolf, whack job — these are crazy people, crazy people…. They’re sick people, we have a lot of sick people.”
He said the shooter never “breached the ballroom,” noting, “That ballroom was sealed.” TMZ reported the gunman “ and did not get through it.”
“He started running at 50 yards — and he was fast,” Trump said. “But they wouldn’t let him get through.”
The President referenced the two previous attempts on his life, in Butler, Penn., in July 2024, and in Florida in September 2024, and said he’s targeted because he’s “impactful.”
“It’s a dangerous profession,” he said of being a political leader, adding, “I think bullfighting is very dangerous.”
In response to reporters’ questions, he said he didn’t believe the incident was related to the Iran war.
A shows the president seated with others at a dais at the front of the banquet hall when they all suddenly duck down and are then hustled off to the left of the stage.
“Stay down!” a man’s alarmed voice can be heard warning.
Immediately, four Secret Service officers in black fatigues and helmets, with machine guns at the ready, take up positions, standing around the now-empty dais and warily scanning the crowd.
Other Secret Service officers in suits swarm up to the dais, knocking over tables, then head off in the direction Trump was evacuated.
Meanwhile, as a hush descended over the room, guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck.
The banquet hall — where a huge audience of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump’s speech — was immediately evacuated.
Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not reenter. Security outside was also extremely tight.
At the end of the C-SPAN clip, two people in the audience can be heard defiantly shouting out, “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
