Gunman charges toward White House correspondents’ dinner ballroom, shots fired; Trump unharmed

By  SEUNG MIN KIM, AAMER MADHANI, COLLIN BINKLEY, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and DAVID BAUDERSunday April 26, 2026

A burst of gunfire shattered the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night, sending President Donald Trump and hundreds of guests scrambling for safety after an armed man with guns and knives charged toward the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.

Trump was unharmed and quickly hustled off the stage. Police said the suspect, identified by officials as a hotel guest, was taken into custody and was due in court Monday. Investigators believe he fired the shots and acted alone, though they have not identified a target or said what may have driven the attack.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” Trump, still in his tuxedo and uninjured, said later at the White House. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

The violence broke out just outside the sprawling underground ballroom, where thousands had gathered for an annual celebration of journalism and the First Amendment. The event carried extra weight this year: It was the first time since Trump returned to office that he had agreed to attend. Later, the president said he hoped the dinner could be rescheduled within 30 days, even as the fact that an armed man made it so close to the ballroom raised immediate questions about security at an event that draws senior government officials every year.

Trump’s video of the incident showed the suspect racing past security barriers as Secret Service agents converged on him. One officer was struck in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was tackled and was not injured, though police said he was being evaluated at a hospital.

According to two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, the suspect was Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. He faces two firearm-related charges, including assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.

Inside the ballroom, the sound of shots sent guests diving under tables while Secret Service agents, including the heavily armed counterassault team, rushed the stage in force.

Vice President JD Vance was escorted out first. Agents initially shielded Trump in place before guiding him and first lady Melania Trump from the room. The president briefly stumbled as he left the stage, then was steadied by members of his security detail.

He was held for a time in a secure presidential suite at the hotel as Trump and event organizers briefly tried to continue the dinner — hotel workers refolded napkins and topped off water glasses, and aides adjusted the teleprompter — before the Secret Service advised that he return to the White House.

It marked the third time since 2024 that Trump had been threatened by an attacker close to him, including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that wounded him and killed a local firefighter.

“Today we need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before,” the president said. Still, he added, “We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.”

FBI Director Kash Patel, standing with Trump, said the bureau is reviewing a long gun and shell casings recovered at the scene and interviewing dinner guests who witnessed the chaos. He called on anyone with information to contact authorities.

Dinner turns to disorder

Guests were eating a spring pea and burrata salad when the disturbance began — a noise Trump said he first mistook for a tray falling, though some journalists thought they heard five to eight gunshots.

The Secret Service and other authorities quickly flooded the room as hundreds of guests ducked beneath tables. Gasps rolled through the ballroom as people grasped that something serious was unfolding, and scores of journalists immediately reached for their phones to report what they were seeing.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone shouted. Others yelled for people to get down. In one corner, a “God Bless America” chant broke out as the president was escorted from the stage. Outside the hotel, National Guard members and other authorities swarmed the area while helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial effort to go on, the dinner was called off for the night and will be rescheduled.

“We will do this again,” White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang said. Soon after, workers began clearing table settings and dismantling the presidential lectern.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he and his wife, Kelly, who were both at the dinner, were “praying for our country tonight.” House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York posted on social media, “The violence and chaos in America must end.”

The banquet hall — filled with hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and political leaders awaiting Trump’s remarks — was evacuated at once. National Guard members took positions inside the building while attendees were permitted to leave but not immediately return. Security around the hotel was also tightened significantly.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who was attending, said he heard a pop and “we didn’t know what the hell it was. And then you heard all sorts of things clatter.” Lawler said he receives “death threats often” and added, “I think we live in a climate where everybody recognizes it’s a problem, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a problem it really is.”

For a brief moment, the event appeared as though it might restart. Servers began refolding napkins and refilling water glasses in anticipation of Trump’s return, and another staffer set up the teleprompter for the speech he had been expected to deliver.

Typically, the Hilton stays open to regular guests during the correspondents’ dinner, with security centered on the ballroom rather than the hotel as a whole. Screening has often been limited for people not entering the dinner itself. Over the years, that arrangement has left room for interruptions in the lobby and other public areas, including protests in which security removed people who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Hilton, an attack that led to changes in the property, including redesigned security features and a special presidential suite near the entrance where presidents could be moved quickly. Trump was taken there briefly after Saturday night’s incident.

Event would have highlighted Trump’s relationship with press

Trump’s first appearance at the annual Washington dinner as president was supposed to put his often-fraught relationship with the press in the spotlight.

He arrived at an event where leaders, celebrities, journalists and even Triumph the Insult Comic Dog mingled in a scene that often prompts fresh arguments about whether reporters and their subjects should socialize over dinner despite their sometimes combative ties.

Trump was under close scrutiny at the gathering hosted by the group that covers him and his administration. Presidents who have attended in the past have typically spoken about free speech and the First Amendment, sprinkling in jokes at the expense of a few reporters.

The Republican president skipped the dinner during his first term and the first year of his second. He attended as a guest in 2011, watching then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, tease the New York real estate developer. Trump also came as a private citizen in 2015.

He entered the Washington Hilton banquet hall to “Hail to the Chief,” greeting prominent journalists on the dais and pausing to praise White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with a pointed, cheerful gesture.

Previous dinners have often included comedians lampooning presidents. This year, the organizers chose mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured performer.

Trump’s second term has been marked by clashes with the press, from attacks on individual reporters and legal battles with organizations including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press to restrictions on access at the Pentagon.

In the lead-up to the dinner, a few dozen protesters stood across from the hotel. One wore a prison uniform, a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another held a sign reading, “Journalism is dead.”