Alleged gunman to face court after shooting at event attended by Trump

A man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening (Sunday morning AEST) and stormed towards the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as guests ducked under tables at the sound of shots.

‘If you have an impact, they will come after you. If you don’t have an impact, they leave you alone,” Trump said, safe and unharmed and still in his tuxedo, two hours later at the White House. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

The shooting took place just outside the vast underground ballroom where thousands of dinner guests were seated, minutes after it began disrupting an annual event meant to honor journalism and the First Amendment that was especially scrutinized this year because it was the first time he has attended since Trump became president. Trump later told reporters he hoped the event would be rescheduled within 30 days, although the fact that an armed man was able to rush into the ballroom immediately raised questions about security measures at an event attended every year by senior government officials.

A video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot wearing a bulletproof vest but recovered, officials said. The gunman was taken to the ground and was not injured but was being treated at a hospital, police said.

In the ballroom, guests rushed for cover at the sound of shots as Secret Service agents, including the heavily armed counter-attack team, stormed the stage after the incident.

Vice President JD Vance was removed from the room first, while officers initially held Trump in place before escorting him and first lady Melania Trump out of the room. Trump briefly stumbled on his way to the stage, before being assisted by his security staff.

He was held for a time in a secure presidential suite at the hotel while the president and organizers initially attempted to resume the event — hotel staff refolded napkins and refilled water glasses, and aides set up the president’s teleprompter — before Trump was returned to the White House on Secret Service advice.

It was the third time since 2024 that the president has been threatened by an attacker close to him — including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured him and killed a local firefighter.

“Today we need a level of security that probably no one has ever seen before,” the president said. But he also said, “We won’t let anyone take over our society.”

FBI Director Kash Patel, standing next to Trump, said the agency is investigating a long gun and shell casings found at the scene and interviewing witnesses to the dinner. He called on anyone with information to come forward.

Guests were dining on a spring pea and burrata salad when the noise began — the noise that Trump said he initially thought was a tray falling, but some journalists believed it was five to eight gunshots.

Secret Service and other authorities flooded the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. There was an audible gasp throughout the ballroom as the guests realized something was happening; Hundreds of journalists immediately got on the phone to request information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone shouted. Others shouted at them to duck. The chant of “God Bless America” ​​came from one corner as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, National Guard members and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume the event, the event for that evening was canceled and will be rescheduled.

“We will do this again,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Shortly thereafter, staff began dismantling the table settings and the presidential lectern.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he and his wife Kelly, who both attended the event, were “praying for our country tonight.” The Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, wrote on social media: “The violence and chaos in America must end.”

The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were waiting for Trump’s remarks — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took position in the building as people were allowed to leave but not immediately allowed back in. Security outside was also extremely tight.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, a guest at the dinner, said he heard a bang and “we didn’t know what the hell it was. And then you heard all kinds of things rattling.” Lawler said he “receives death threats often” and said: “I think we live in a climate where everyone recognizes it’s a problem, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a problem it really is.”

In general, the Hilton hotel, which has hosted the dinner for years, remains open to patrons during the Correspondents’ Dinner, and security is typically focused on the ballroom rather than the hotel as a whole, with little screening for people not entering. dinner itself. In recent years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public areas, including protests where security removed guests unfurling banners or organizing demonstrations.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was greeted outside the Hilton by John Hinckley Jr. shot – an event that prompted redesigns of the property that increased security and added a special presidential suite at the entrance where CEOs could be taken. Trump was sent there shortly after the incident on Saturday evening.

The event is said to have highlighted Trump’s relationship with the press

Trump’s presence at the annual dinner in Washington, for the first time as president, was expected to make his administration’s often contentious relationship with the press fully public.

Trump arrived at an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — at a dinner that typically sparks debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes hostile relationships.

Trump was closely watched at the event hosted by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended the meeting have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding some light-hearted comments about individual journalists.

The Republican president was absent during his first term and the first year of his second term. He was a guest in 2011 and was in the audience when President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump was also there as a private citizen in 2015.

Trump entered the Washington Hilton’s banquet room to the sounds of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on stage, also pausing to praise White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful fingertip.

Previous dinners have also included comedians poking presidents. This year the group chose to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as entertainment.

Between calling out individual reporters and fighting organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s hostility toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.

In the run-up to the event, several dozen demonstrators stood opposite the hotel. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign that read: “Journalism is dead.”