Donald and Melania Trump evacuated from White House correspondents’ dinner as loud bangs heard | US news
The White House correspondents’ dinner was interrupted by violent explosions on Saturday evening, and Donald Trump and Melania Trump were immediately evacuated while many journalists and their guests took shelter under tables in the Washington Hilton ballroom.
There were reports of U.S. Secret Service members pulling guns as White House pool reporters were escorted from the room and Secret Service agents shouted “shots fired.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised the Secret Service and law enforcement and said the attacker had been caught. He said he was awaiting a decision on whether the event would go ahead.
The Secret Service said in a statement: expression It was stated that the shooting incident occurred near the main magnetometer scanning area at the hotel and one person was in custody.
Weijia Jang, chair of the White House correspondents’ dinner, told the room that the president was planning a news conference at the White House later Saturday and wanted to reschedule the annual dinner to celebrate the White House press corps.
“Thank God everyone is safe and thank you for coming together tonight,” he said. “We’ll do this again.”
Guardian reporters in the room said there were initially mixed messages about whether press and guests should remain in the room. Many people remaining in the ballroom said the program was planned to continue despite the removal of the presidential seal from the podium.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer reported seeing someone with a gun at the event.
“I saw the gunman on the ground after he started shooting,” he said. “Police officers threw him to the ground.”
The guests had just begun eating dinner when the commotion began. The atmosphere in the room was tense as journalists waited to find out what had happened and what to do next.
Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland who attended the dinner, said he didn’t see any attackers but said, “I think a Secret Service agent threw me to the ground and some other people and people were screaming and yelling.”
“I heard some loud noises but I don’t know if it was people’s reaction or if it was something coming from outside, it was hard to know but people were immediately saying it was a gunshot, it was a gunshot,” he added. “People were horrified; people now seem relieved.”
Outside the hotel, helicopters were circling overhead.
This year’s dinner was already tense, given the presence of Trump and senior members of his cabinet, including defense secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio. Trump agreed to attend this year’s dinner after declining to attend last year and during his first term. Reporters’ dinner tradition to start In 1921, the tradition of presidential guests began in 1924, when Calvin Coolidge attended.
