President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were abruptly evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night after gunshots were reportedly heard inside the venue.
Attendees inside the ballroom were told to get down, with multiple guests seen crouching under tables as security locked down the room.
Trump had been seated at the dais alongside Melania and CBS reporter/White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang when the incident unfolded. A band had just played the national anthem moments before the disruption.
But confusion quickly followed, with the White House press pool reporting that Trump had not yet departed the Washington Hilton, and that he remained inside the hotel even after the evacuation.
Trump addressed the incident in a post on Truth Social.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. 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,” he wrote.
“Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
He later followed up with a second post confirming he would leave the venue and address the nation.
“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately. I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room,” he wrote.
Jiang told attendees that the dinner would be rescheduled within the next 30 days after Trump initially pushed to continue with the event before deferring to security protocol.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was near the men’s room at the top of the stairs when the shooting began and described being just feet away from the gunman.
“I start hearing gunshots in the hall, right near me, and the next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground,” he said on air.
“I happened to have been a few feet away from him as he was shooting.”
Attorney General Jeanine Pirro said in a video posted to X that she had been evacuated from the ballroom and that the Secret Service had taken control of the hotel.
Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg told The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman that he saw someone rushing toward the stairs moments before the chaos.
Both Nunberg and Blitzer said they sheltered in the men’s bathroom, with Nunberg adding that Blitzer lost a shoe as security rushed people to safety.
The scale and source of the gunfire were not immediately clear, and it was not known whether anyone had been injured. Law enforcement on the ground said an apparent shooter had been shot at the top of the stairs leading down to the ballroom.
In a statement, the U.S. Secret Service said it is investigating a shooting near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“The president and the first lady are safe along all protectees. One individual is in custody,” said Anthony Guglielmi, the agency’s chief of communications.
The FBI confirmed that the suspect is in custody, adding that the National Capital Response Squad from its Washington Field Office had responded to the Hilton.
