Trump evacuated from media dinner after gunshots; supporters say another assassination attempt

The TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump was hurriedly evacuated from a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel on Saturday night after shots rang outside the banquet hall shortly before he was to deliver his speech.

The US Secret Service said in a statement soon after that it is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area in the hotel, which is the same hotel where John Hinkley Jr. tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981. It also said one individual is in custody.



While some eyewitness reports said one suspect was shot in the melee, the Secret Service said the “condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation,” suggesting there may be others involved.

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The Secret Service also said the president and the first lady are safe, as also all other protectees, including the vice-president J.D Vance and several cabinet members who were at the event.

The WHCA dinner is an annual roast and toast, which Trump has avoided from the time he became President, ostensibly because he believes the most of the media is hostile to him. But he made an exception this year, and instead of a well-known comedian or late night host who typically roasts the gathering, he was to deliver the keynote himself, with a “mentalist” providing entertainment for the evening.

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But about half an hour into the evening when dinner was about to be served, there were several popping sounds outside the banquet hall while Trump and the first lady were seated on the stage. Secret Service agents came storming through the aisles yelling "get down, get down," while other agents swarmed around the president and the first lady and rushed them out. Security detail attached to various cabinet members also shepherded them out.

About half an hour after the incident, President Trump, while still at the hotel, said he wanted the show to go, but he would defer to the advice of law enforcement, and if they insisted on curtailing the event, he would like to do it again.



In fact, most of the guests stayed back amid expectations that Trump would return after WHCA President, CBS White House reporter Weijia Jiang, said the event would continue. Trump apparently wanted to return but was advised by security he should not, as he indicated in a social media post shortly thereafter.

“Quite an evening in D C Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again,” he said in a post, following which the event was concluded – without dinner.

Read also: Trump wanted 'the show to go on' after shooting at White House Correspondents' Dinner

Trump’s message earned encomiums from many of his supporters, who portrayed the incident as a third assassination attempt on him and praised his courage in wanting to return to deliver his speech. Some supporters blamed the “radical left” for the purported assassination attempt even as the first sketchy details were trickling out.