President Donald Trump said on Saturday night he initially thought the sound of a gunman charging a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was a tray falling. Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in the White House briefing room, Trump described the incident as “totally shocking”.
Trump noted that his wife, Melania, immediately recognised the noise. “Melania was very cognisant, I think, of what happened,” he said. “She was saying ‘it’s a bad noise’.” Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, suggesting that those who make the biggest impact are the ones targeted. He described the gunman as “a sick person, a very sick person” and “a lone wolf wack job” from California.
A Secret Service agent was saved by his bulletproof vest during the attack. Trump joked that if Secretary of State Marco Rubio had warned him about the potential for assassination attempts, he might not have run for president. “If Marco would have told me, maybe I wouldn’t have run,” he said, adding that he was there to do a job.
The incident unfolded at the Washington Hilton hotel, where Trump was seated at the high table with Melania and the president of the correspondents’ association. Secret Service agents rushed the president out of the ballroom, and the gunman was apprehended in the lobby. Trump was joined at the lectern by Vice-President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other senior officials.
