Security officials evacuate U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as a possible shooter opened fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026.
Members of Congress and other political figures who were present at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night were left deeply unsettled by a shooting that took place outside the event.
“It’s a horrible, horrible moment for our country to see somebody want to attack or disrupt the event,” Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.) told Axios while exiting the dinner, which was postponed due to the incident.
- Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.), who was seated near the rostrum when President Trump and other top officials were evacuated, told Axios “it’s insane … that this is happening at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Security is supposed to be top notch.”
- Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) told Axios in a text message that he was pulled into a secure room by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), adding: “As a member who lives in Parkland and went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS I am glad everyone is okay.”
- “It’s shocking,” former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told Axios as he was leaving the event.
- Trump was hastily evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinneron Saturday night after a gunman armed with multiple weapons tried to breach security and was shot by Secret Service, federal law enforcement officials tell Axios.
- A suspect fired at Secret Service personnel at the event at the Washington Hilton hotel and is now in custody, a law enforcement source tells Axios.
- Trump praised law enforcement’s swift response at a press briefing at the White House Saturday evening and insisted that the event be rescheduled within the next 30 days.
- Members described confusion in the initial aftermath of the incident.
- “I saw them immediately evacuate Secretary [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.] and I took video of that when it was happening because I thought maybe something was happening to him,” Barragan told Axios.
- “I’m just letting it all soak in,” said Rep. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio) as he was leaving the hotel.
- Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), in a text to Axios, blamed Democrats for the incident.
- The bottom line: Jack said he thinks “somebody should look into the security protocols that were adopted here.”
- “Hopefully when we do come back within 30 days, it’s a much more safe and much more secure event that enables all of us to celebrate this night,” he added.
- President Trump condemned the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night, but he said that demonstrates the need to renovate security facilities underneath his planned White House ballroom.
- “It’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump said of the Washington Hilton at a White House press conference after the shooting. “And I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House.”
- Trump’s plans for the White House ballroom include a secure bunker under what was once the East Wing.
- Trump linked the White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack to previous attempts on his life.
- “Today, we need levels of security probably nobody has seen before,” he said.
- Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024 while campaigning for his second term. The Secret Service’s various failures to secure the site prompted a wide range of reforms.
- A second assassination attempt happened several months later at his Florida golf course, though no shots were fired during that event. The suspect was given life in prison earlier this year.
AXIOS
