A Summary of the Event on Saturday In case you missed it, an armed guy rushed a security checkpoint at the 2026 White House Correspondents’
Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, causing attendees to flee and Secret Service personnel to go into emergency mode.
First Lady Melania Trump and the president were “whisked away” in the chaos, and the president subsequently acknowledged that at first he was unaware of the gravity of the situation.
“I thought it was a tray that clattered on the ground,” he said to reporters during a hastily arranged White House press conference.
According to President Trump, neither he nor his team had any previous knowledge of the danger. “We wanted to stay tonight,” he continued. “I fought like hell to stay.”
When gunfire was heard inside the Washington Hilton at around 8:35 p.m. ET, people fled for their lives.
President Trump and Cabinet officials were quickly removed out of the room by Secret Service agents.
Wolf Blitzer of CNN was one among the witnesses; he was outside the ballroom when he seen a gunman firing a few feet away.
As police descended upon the area, he and scores of other people sought shelter. While wearing protective gear, a US Secret Service agent was shot and hit.
President Trump later claimed to have personally spoken with the agent, who was admitted to the hospital, and that they were in “great shape” because of their bulletproof vest.
No one else was hurt, according to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. President Trump made his first public remarks at 9:17 p.m., announcing on Truth Social that the accused gunman “has been apprehended.”
At 10:29 p.m., he followed up with a picture showing the suspect face down on the ground with his hands behind his back and video that seemed to show the beginning of the shooting.
