President Trump speaks from the White House, flanked by Vice President Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, shortly after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump and the first lady are uninjured after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday in Washington, D.C. A suspect is in custody, according to a statement from the U.S. Secret Service.
In remarks from the White House after the incident, the president said a Secret Service agent is “doing great” after being shot in a bulletproof vest. The Secret Service said the incident took place at a security screening area inside the venue near the entrance to the main ballroom where the event was taking place.
Trump shared surveillance footage online which appears to show law enforcement reacting to an assailant sprinting through an area of the hotel.
He also posted pictures of a man, shirtless, with his eyes closed lying face down on a carpet. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that charges would be filed against the suspect soon.
At a law enforcement press conference, Jeffery Carroll of DC’s Metropolitan Police said that the suspect “was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.”
Getty Images photographer Andrew Harnik takes photos as a security official points his weapon after an incident at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Law enforcement said they believe the suspect was a guest at the hotel. He is being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, with more charges likely, according to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
He is being evaluated at a local hospital and was not hit by gunfire, according to law enforcement.
A chaotic scene
What sounded like gunshots were heard by gathered reporters shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET in the Washington Hilton. Several guests were seen fleeing the ballroom where hundreds of journalists, politicians and attendees were gathered — including Trump, Vice President Vance and other members of the administration.
Video from inside the room showed security quickly clear the guests on the main stage — including the president and first lady. Someone can be heard shouting “stay down.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taken out of the ballroom by security agents during a shooting incident at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump took to social media shortly after being rushed out to praise the Secret Service.
“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. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again,” Trump wrote.
Law enforcement was seen evacuating prominent cabinet officials to rooms within the hotel, including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy and FBI Director Kash Patel.
The president said in a later post that all cabinet members are safe.
First lady Melania Trump and President Trump were sitting next to each other just before they were rushed out of the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
Tom Brenner/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Tom Brenner/AP
Several members of Congress were seen leaving the event by foot, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
“I said earlier tonight that journalism is a public service, because when there is an emergency, we run to the crisis, not away from it. And on a night when we are thinking about the freedoms in the First Amendment, we must also think about how fragile they are,” Weijia Jiang, the president of the correspondents’ association, said. “I saw all of you reporting, and that’s what we do. Thank God everybody’s safe and and thank you for coming together tonight. We will do this again.”
Attacks on Trump and the press
Both the president and members of the press have been targeted for violence in recent years.
During his 2024 reelection effort, Trump was injured in a shooting at a July rally in Pennsylvania when a bullet whizzed past his head, grazing his ear. Two attendees were wounded, and rally-goer and former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed.
A Secret Service sniper shot and killed the perpetrator.
In September 2024, a Secret Service agent saw a man holding a semi-automatic rifle hidden in the tree line at Trump International in West Palm Beach. The suspect fled in his car and was arrested a short time later.
White House Correspondents Association President and CBS Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang pauses while coming back to the stage to speak after a shooting incident at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
He was later sentenced to life in prison.
During the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building, more than a dozen journalists were attacked in targeted assaults by rioters, according to a tally by the Freedom of the Press foundation. “Murder the media” was etched into a doorway during the attack.
In 2018, a man mailed pipe bombs to people and organizations he perceived to be critics of Donald Trump, including CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Washington Hilton, which played host to Saturday’s dinner, is also the site of past political violence — in 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously wounded outside of the hotel.
Three others were also injured in the attack, including Reagan’s press secretary James Brady, who sustained brain damage and was permanently disabled in the attack. He became a gun control activist, successfully lobbying alongside his wife Sarah Brady for a background check system for firearm sales.
The White House Press Briefing Room, where Trump made brief remarks after the incident, was later renamed in his honor.
— Deepa Shivaram contributed to this report.
