The Secret Service was left scrambling to find out where Trump’s Cabinet, senior administration members, and congressional lawmakers were sitting in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association shooting.
Sources have told the Daily Beast that the agency overseeing security at the event was not provided with a detailed seating plan showing exactly where Trump’s leadership group was sitting.
Donald Trump, Melania, JD Vance, Karoline Leavitt, and the top table guests were ushered to safety after the loud shots were heard.
Secret Service agents rushed to pull top officials, including RFK Jr., Scott Bessent, Kash Patel, Marco Rubio, Stephen and Katie Miller, Dan Scavino, and Pete Hegseth, out of the crowded audience. They were all led—separately—out of the ballroom by armed guards via two entrances, one of them close to where the shooter attempted to break in.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was hustled out by a Capitol Police officer.
The agents were forced to climb over chairs—sometimes throwing them aside—to reach the officials because the tables were packed so closely together.
The shots were fired soon after 8.34 pm. One was fired by shooter Cole Tomas Allen, hitting a Secret Service agent in the chest.
The agent’s life was saved by his anti-ballistic vest, and he returned fire, firing five bullets that missed the would-be assassin, who was tackled to the ground and arrested.
Administration members scattered around various tables towards the front of the ballroom were escorted out of the room by 8.40 pm.
The other guests remained in the ballroom until 9.40 pm, when WHCA President Weijia Jiang announced that the event was being postponed to a later date.
The Swamp has also confirmed that neither the Secret Service nor the Capitol Police knew where in the ballroom every member of Congress who attended the gala was sitting. They were not escorted to a safe area, but asked to come to the front of the stage about one hour after the gunman was caught.
Earlier, Capitol Police officers went table to table trying to map out where senators and Reps had been sitting.
Questions were also asked today about tickets that had no identifying information other than a table number.
“The WHCA dinner must be the only event of its size in the United States that doesn’t use a QR code,” said a security source. “People were getting past police and security checkpoints with photos of tickets on their phones and, in some cases, zeroxed copies.
“The running of the event is totally outdated, and changes need to be made urgently.”
“I just flashed my ticket and walked right in,” said CNN anchor Boris Sanchez.
Another insider with knowledge of the planning for the event added: “You could get in, but there were more than 2,600 people packed in the ballroom, and there was no clear way out.
The security revelations are certain to put more pressure on the Secret Service as a probe is being launched over lax security that allowed the armed shooter to get within feet of the packed room.
Asked about the reported security failures at the event, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted: “Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they were trained to do.”
The Daily Beast has also contacted the Secret Service for comment.
