Trump evacuated from White House Correspondents' Dinner after gunshots: "I fought like hell to stay"
Washington DC - President Donald Trump was evacuated in an emergency from the stage of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner by Secret Service on Saturday night, as gunshots rang out at the event. Details are still developing.
Saturday marked the first time Trump was attending the event during his tenure in the White House. The hall in the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC was filled with the nation's top journalists, celebrities, and politicians at the annual event, which honors journalism and highlights the presidency's relationship with the press.
According to authorities, gunshots were fired just outside the ballroom where the dinner was being held at 8:36 PM.
The security breach occurred after the welcoming speech and during dinner, before Trump was due to speak.
Trump and his team were hurried out of the venue, while dinner guests ducked for cover under tables and the live band stopped playing mid-song.
There were no injures reported, and the president confirmed the suspect, whom he described as a "would-be assassin," "is in custody" and "from California."
Trump holds live briefing after gunshots fired at his first White House Correspondents' Dinner as president
In a briefing held at the White House afterward, with many reporters clad in formal attire who were attendees at the event, Trump said the suspect was alive and had "multiple weapons" outside the hotel's ballroom.
"I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay,” he said of wanting to continue the dinner and deliver his planned remarks. Yet, organizers ultimately decided to cancel the event and reschedule.
He also said the shooting was "rather traumatic" for his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, who was also rushed offstage in the panic along with other top cabinet officials.
On Truth Social, he wrote "the shooter has been aprehended." Law enforcement later said the shooter had run through a security checkpoint and exchanged gunfire with police.
No further official details have been provided about the suspect by authorities, only that "justice will be served."
Trump says he will not be deterred from Iran war after shooting
Trump has also said the shooting will not deter him from the Iran war, although he believed the incident was unlikely linked to the conflict.
"It's not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, I really don't think so, based on what we know," Trump told reporters.
Trump had earlier said, however, that "you never know" if it could be linked to the Iran war, and said investigators were working on the motive of the shooter whom he described as a "lone wolf."
The president earlier Saturday canceled his envoys' trip to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran following nearly two months of war.
Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing a rally goer and lightly wounding the president in the ear.
A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.
The Washington Hilton where Saturday's gala was taking place was the site where Republican President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.
Cover photo: REUTERS