(L-R) Melania Trump and U.S. President Donald Trump attend as Mentalist Oz Pearlman hosts The White House Correspondents Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Mazur | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
President Donald Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night after multiple gunshots were heard in the ballroom.
Trump, in a Truth Social post less than an hour later, said that a shooter has been caught.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” he said in the post.
“The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement,” he wrote.
“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. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
At least five shots were heard at the event in the Washington Hilton hotel. They seemed to ring out from the back of the ballroom as attendees were eating their first course, several minutes after White House Correspondents’ Association President Weija Jiang delivered remarks.
President Trump is evacuated off stage by Secret Service after multiply gunshots were heard at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 25th, 2026.
Trump, who was seated on a stage at the front of the ballroom next to first lady Melania Trump, was quickly surrounded by U.S. Secret Service members, while many attendees ducked under their tables.
Video of the event shows the president being ushered off the stage a few seconds later, as armed guards wearing tactical gear and large rifles appeared on the dais.
Numerous other top Trump administration officials were at the event, including Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Jiang said a few minutes after the incident that the dinner would resume.
“I know everyone is going to want as many details as possible, and right now we don’t have them,” she said from the stage.
U.S. Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro, who was attending the event, said in a social media post that the Secret Service “is now in charge of” the building following the shooting.
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