President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet were rushed out and evacuated on Saturday night after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Vice President JD Vance and members of Trump’s Cabinet, who were also in attendance, were also rushed out. Also among the officials in the room for this dinner was the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche.
The White House press pool, the group of reporters that travels with the president, is reporting that the president is still at the Washington hotel that serves as the setting for the correspondent’s dinner. “The pool is still at the Hilton as of 8:56, which means POTUS hadn’t departed yet,” according to the pool report.
A source told CNN that Trump is safe. According to an administration official, Cabinet members are OK as well.
The Secret Service whisked President Trump off the stage. Authorities detained the shooter.
“In addition to the president, First Lady and Vice President, many members of the president’s cabinet and senior staff were in attendance at the dinner. Among the attendees: Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary; Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence; Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary; Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary; Steven Cheung, the White House communications director; and Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I.,” the New York Times reported.
“Right now, we are praying for the safety of President Trump and the members of the administration attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner after gunshots were fired. We are hearing reports the shooter is detained and President Trump will be returning to dinner. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will provide updates as more information becomes available,” Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said.
Wolf Blitzer, the CNN anchor, was near the men’s room at the top of the stairs above the basement when the shooting took place, he told his network. Blitzer described being a few feet away from the shooter. “I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting,” Wolf Blitzer says on CNN.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “is fine and has left the dinner,” according to his closest aide, Stefanie Spear.
The Department of Justice has directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand federal execution protocols to include pentobarbital injections and firing squads. The move is part of a broader effort to strengthen enforcement of the federal death penalty under the Trump administration.
The directive was outlined in a memo obtained by Fox News. Officials said the changes are intended to ensure that capital sentences are carried out once legal appeals have been exhausted, Fox News reported.
“Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences — clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals,” the memo said.
The department said it will reintroduce lethal injection protocols used during the first Trump administration. It also plans to expand execution methods to include additional options such as firing squads.
“Among the actions taken are readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases,” the memo said.
