US President Donald Trump called it the “hottest ticket in town”.
The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner is Washington’s ultimate who’s who gathering for journalists, politicians and celebrities. This year, nearly every senior Trump administration official was there.
For me, it was meant to be a night of networking, perhaps a brief break from covering the White House, and a rare chance to dress up.
But 30 minutes into the event, I was crouched under a table in my evening gown after hearing what sounded like five gunshots.
For a brief moment, I thought I might be shot.
“Get down, stay down,” someone shouted. Everyone complied.
I was seated near the entrance and two men at my table quickly stacked chairs to form makeshift barriers.
From under the table, I called my editor. I was relieved when he answered.
Peering up from the floor, I saw armed Secret Service agents escorting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, FBI director Kash Patel and others from the ballroom.
How long were we meant to stay down? What was happening? Nothing was clear.
About 2,500 guests were packed into the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the dinner is held every year.
Guests were seated at round tables, while Mr Trump and the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association were positioned on stage.
To enter, I had to show my prized admission ticket several times to security guards. I passed through a metal detector and a guard briefly checked my clutch bag.
Yet for all the glamour, the evening had felt charged from the outset.
Mr Trump, attending the event for the first time as President, has long had a testy relationship with the press. Until a few weeks ago, it was unclear whether he would even attend.
Instead of the traditional stand-up comedian who usually roasts both the President and the media, guests were told to expect a hypnotist.
-
FBI agents outside a house associated with Cole Allen, the chief suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondent's Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel. Reuters -
An FBI tactical team prepares to enter Mr Allen's house in Torrance, California. He had already been arrested after the shooting in which no one was killed. AFP -
US President Donald Trump during a press briefing at the White House in Washington shortly after the shooting. AFP -
Mr Trump takes questions at the White House. One Secret Service agent was hit but was wearing a bulletproof vest and was thought to be uninjured. AFP -
Mr Trump looking shaken after the shooting. Reuters -
Mr Trump is escorted out under guard after the shooting. Reuters -
An armed agent clambering over chairs after loud noises were heard. AFP -
Guests take cover after the President and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Reuters -
US House Speaker Mike Johnson is taken to safety. Reuters -
The Trumps, alongside CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang. Reuters -
Security personnel on alert after shots were fired. The National's senior US correspondent Jihan Abdalla heard about five shots outside the cavernous ballroom and dived for cover, alongside others. EPA -
Guests comfort each other after the shooting. Reuters -
A security officer on alert after shots were fired. EPA -
Guests take cover. Reuters -
A Secret Service agent pulls his gun. Reuters -
Frightened guests embrace after the incident. Reuters -
Law enforcement officers surround Robert F Kennedy Jr, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, and his wife, actress and comedian Cheryl Hines. Bloomberg -
US Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet return to the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after the reported shooting in Washington. Reuters -
A National Guard officer responds to reports of a shooting. Bloomberg -
A police officer walks through the lobby of the Washington Hilton after shots were heard during the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington. AFP -
Agents draw their guns after loud noises were heard. AFP -
Mr Trump during the annual dinner in Washington. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington. EPA
Mr Trump was expected to speak. Would he attack the journalists who criticise his policies? Would he make an announcement on the war with Iran?
He frequently dismisses critical coverage by mainstream US outlets as the “fake news media”. Would the gathered journalists applaud him?
We never found out. Instead, as we ate our starter – a spring pea and burrata salad – and chatted among ourselves, the evening was abruptly shattered.
It later emerged that the suspected gunman was Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a California resident who had been staying at the hotel.
But from inside the ballroom, it was difficult to learn anything. Mobile phone service was patchy.
It later emerged that Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump had been taken to a secure room in the hotel. The President had reportedly hoped to resume proceedings.
Mr Trump has previously turned moments of personal danger into opportunity. He survived an assassination attempt in July 2024 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet grazed his ear and a spectator was killed. He rose moments later with blood on his face, pumping his fist in defiance.
Later that year, he was unharmed in what was another alleged attempt on his life, when a man carrying an AK-47-type rifle with a scope was intercepted near Mr Trump's golf course in Florida.
The Washington Hilton was also the site of the attempted assassination of president Ronald Reagan 45 years ago.
After about an hour of anxious waiting in the ballroom, guests were told to leave. Mr Trump later held a news briefing at the White House. He was still wearing his tuxedo.
He used the moment to promote his controversial White House renovation plans. “I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” he said. “We need the ballroom.”
He also said the dinner would be rescheduled within the next 30 days.
I am still unsure how I feel about attending.
