A suspect is in custody after a shooting at a security screening area inside the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday, the U.S. Secret Service said. President Trump and the first lady were uninjured.
Trump, speaking from the White House, said a Secret Service agent who was shot while wearing a bulletproof vest is “doing great.” Authorities say the shooting took place near the ballroom entrance, where guests were being screened before entering the event.
Surveillance video posted by Trump appears to show law enforcement chasing an assailant through a hotel corridor; photos circulated on social media showed a shirtless man lying face down on a carpet. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges would be filed against the suspect soon.
Metropolitan Police Department inspector Jeffery Carroll said the suspect “was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.” Officials believe the man was a hotel guest. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the suspect is being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, and that additional charges are likely. The suspect was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and was not hit by gunfire, officials said.
The shooting created a chaotic scene inside the Washington Hilton. Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like gunshots shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET. Hundreds of journalists, politicians and guests in the ballroom — including Trump, Vice President Vance and other administration members — were quickly evacuated as security cleared the stage. Video shot inside the room shows security personnel directing people off the stage while someone is heard shouting for people to “stay down.”
Law enforcement escorted several prominent officials to private rooms inside the hotel, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FBI Director Kash Patel. Several members of Congress left the event on foot.
Trump praised the Secret Service and other law enforcement on social media, saying they “did a fantastic job” and acted “quickly and bravely.” He wrote that the shooter had been apprehended and said he recommended organizers “LET THE SHOW GO ON,” while noting that the final decision would be made by law enforcement. He later posted that all cabinet members were safe.
Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, commended journalists’ response, saying reporters “run toward crises” and stressing the fragility of First Amendment freedoms. “Thank God everybody’s safe and thank you for coming together tonight. We will do this again,” she said.
Officials and commentators noted the incident follows a string of threats and violent episodes involving Trump and members of the press in recent years: during his 2024 re-election campaign Trump was grazed by a bullet at a July rally in Pennsylvania, when two attendees were wounded and one person was killed; in September 2024 a Secret Service agent at Trump International in West Palm Beach observed a man with a concealed semi-automatic rifle who fled and was arrested; during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot more than a dozen journalists were attacked; and in 2018 a man mailed pipe bombs to critics of Trump, including CNN, for which he was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Washington Hilton is also the site of past political violence: in 1981 President Ronald Reagan was shot outside the hotel. Three others were injured, including Reagan’s press secretary James Brady, who sustained brain damage and was permanently disabled and later became a gun control advocate. The White House press briefing room — where Trump made brief remarks after Saturday’s incident — was later renamed in Brady’s honor.
— Deepa Shivaram contributed to this report.