President Donald Trump held a press conference from the White House late on Saturday evening after he was rushed from the stage of the White House Correspondents Dinner during a shooting incident.
Trump said the incident was “incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement.” He said one Secret Service officer was shot at a “very close distance” but was wearing a “very good bulletproof vest.” The agent is in good condition.
“He has very high spirits. And we told him we love him,” Trump said.
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Trump added that the Washington Hilton, which hosted the dinner, is “not a particularly secure building” and said it underscored the need for a White House ballroom.
“It’s much more secure. It’s got, it’s drone proof. It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.”
Trump added that the ballroom where the dinner was held, however, was “very, very secure.” “The ballroom was sealed.”
“[The suspect] charged from 50 yards away, so he was very far away from the room,” he told reporters.
“He was really moving. And the reaction time was great. Boy, those guys, they had their guns drawn literally. By the time he was there, they were shooting.”
Trump went on: “He had a long way to go. That was really a first line of defense. And they got him. And they really, you know, they acted incredibly.”
He said the shooter is in custody and law enforcement is “asking him a lot of questions.”
“My impression is that he was a lone wolf, a whack job.”
He also called to mind the past two attempts on his life.
“As you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill and Butler, Pennsylvania, less than two years ago. You know, although that story and in Palm Beach, Florida, a few months after that, we came close.”
Trump said the gunman, who opened fire on the Secret Service after passing through the magnetometers near the Hilton ballroom with a weapon, is a “very sick person.”
“I guess he lives in California, and he’s a sick person, a very sick person.”
Trump earlier said he would leave the event, which would be rescheduled in 30 days. He said he “fought like hell to stay” but law enforcement insisted he leave as a security precaution.
“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately. I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room. The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in a half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier on Saturday evening.
“The president will be having a press briefing at the White House in 30 minutes. That is not a joke,” White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang said after the incident. She confirmed the dinner would be rescheduled.
The FBI told Fox News that a gunman stormed through the main magnetometer near the entrance of the Washington Hilton ballroom and opened fire. A Secret Service agent was hit in the vest but is in stable condition. The counter-assault team neutralized the threat. Secret Service worked to determine whether there were any other threats and determined there were not, Fox News learned.
The suspect is in custody, the Secret Service confirmed.
Attendees reported hearing shouting, shots fired and several people took cover under tables as Secret Service agents escorted the president, the first lady, Cabinet secretaries and others at the head table out of the room.
Secret Service agents moved into position at the head table with weapons drawn as they scanned the room.
Protesters had gathered outside the Washington Hilton earlier in the evening, though it is unclear whether the two events are connected.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., provided his own account of the incident on X: “Was just at the White House Correspondents Dinner. I was walking down the escalators from the lobby when, at the bottom of the escalators, 2 security people with guns were running through and yelling “watch out for crossfire.” I got behind a pillar with another person then slowly snuck out a back exit while hearing more commotion and police. Thank you to Secret Service, Capitol Police, DC Metropolitan Police and all law enforcement for their quick response.”
Secret Service chief spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement: “The U.S. Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The president and the first lady are safe along all protectees. One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.”
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“I was really concerned. I heard shots and everyone jumped down,” Fox News’ Bret Baier, who attended the dinner, said. “Within seconds the place was filled with Secret Service agents, guns drawn.
Trump was seen being quickly escorted out of the room by security and White House officials tell Fox News Digital both he, the First Lady and Karoline Leavitt are safe at this time.
The incident marked the first violent disruption of the dinner that dates back more than a century.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, R-Fla., credited House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was shot and seriously wounded during a baseball game in 2017, with ushering him into a secure room.
“I am at the #WHCD. I want to thank law enforcement, Capital police. I personally want to thank Steve Scalise who grabbed me into a secure room,” he wrote on X.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., said on X that he, Reps. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., and Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., had left the dinner after the incident. “Pray for our country, pray for our leaders,” he said in a video posted to X. “Crazy time.”
Fox News Jacqui Heinrich and David Spunt contributed to this report.
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