Trump, evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Dinner amid the sound of gunshots

WashingtonUS President Donald Trump and his wife Melania were evacuated unharmed from the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner this Saturday evening after the sound of gunshots was heard. Vice President JD Vance and other administration members were also escorted by the Secret Service out of the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the event was taking place. According to Trump, who later said in a post on Truth Social, "the shooter has been apprehended."

In a parallel statement, the Secret Service reported that the motive for the apparent assassination attempt against Trump is being investigated. If confirmed, it would be the third, following Butler in July 2024 and the case at the Mar-a-Lago golf course in September of that same year. The Butler attack marked a turning point in the MAGA movement amidst the election campaign, with the image of a bloodied Trump shouting ""fight, fight, fight,"" which was elevated to an icon by his followers. The perpetrator, Thomas Crook, was shot dead at the scene. In the Mar-a-Lago case, Ryan Routh did not manage to fire and has already been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The images of the dinner, broadcast live, show how the dinner was proceeding normally when suddenly loud noises are heard in the room. In a matter of seconds, secret service agents appear who, amidst the background instrumental music, make Trump and all his diners duck under the table and leave. Security forces, armed, take possession of the box where the presidential table was while chaos and confusion unfold throughout the dinner. Journalists who were in the room, bewildered by the still unidentified noise, hide under the tables.