At least four shots rang out, and the Trump administration’s worst fears almost came true.
President Trump and Melania were rushed from the stage the moment the shots were fired. Vice President JD Vance and US Attorney Jeanine Pirro were also escorted from the room.
There was a clatter of plates and urgent shouts of “get down, get down.”
With Trump’s Cabinet scattered around the tables, the fear in everyone’s heads was that the shooting wasn’t over.
We braced for more, but they never came.
Democratic Senator John Fetterman reached down to help a woman up from the floor as she hid under her table.
Everyone looked shocked. Some were in tears.
Members of Trump’s Cabinet were sitting all through the hall at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. They included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Stephen and Katie Miller, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.
Two Secret Service guards with machine guns stood on the stage where the president and first lady had been eating their meals moments earlier.
Rumors quickly circulated that a gunman had been shot dead in the lobby. As the diners-including most of Washington’s media-raised their heads above the tables, there were shouts to keep down.
Still, there were no police in the Hilton Hotel’s International Ballroom.
One by one, Trump’s Cabinet members were led out by the Secret Service.
Kash Patel walked out, head down, his phone to his ear.
No bullets appeared to be fired inside the ballroom.
Trump and his team were gone.
