President Donald Trump provided new details about his experience during the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, April 25, revealing that his own curiosity delayed his evacuation from the Washington Hilton ballroom.
In an interview broadcast on the Sunday, April 26, episode of 60 Minutes, the 79-year-old president told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell that he resisted Secret Service efforts to quickly remove him from the scene because he wanted to understand what was occurring.
"What happened is it was a little bit me," Trump explained. "I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn't making it that easy for [the shooter]. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of a problem, bad one, and different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time. I was surrounded by great people and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, 'Wait a minute, let me see.'"
The president's account explains why Secret Service agents took longer to evacuate him compared to Vice President JD Vance, who was removed from the ballroom more quickly. Trump initially attempted to walk out of the venue before agents instructed him to drop to the ground as the severity of the situation became apparent.
"I started walking with them. They said, 'Please go down on the floor,' so I went down, and the first lady went down also," Trump said.
The president praised First Lady Melania Trump for her composure during the incident, noting that unlike him, she had not previously experienced an active shooter situation. Trump referenced his own prior encounters with similar threats as context for his reaction.
"My thought was, 'I've been through this before a couple of times.' She has not to this extent. She handled it great. She's very strong. Smart. She got it," he said. "She listened. When they said, 'Drop down,' that meant trouble."
Trump described initially mistaking the gunshot for the sound of a dropped tray, given the distance from which the shot was fired. He noted that the First Lady immediately recognized the danger, telling him, "That's a bad noise."
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man, was arrested in connection with the shooting on Saturday. He is expected to be arraigned today, Monday, April 27.
Following the disrupted event, Trump told reporters he was "honored" to be targeted by the suspected gunman, stating, "When you look at our great presidents, [this] doesn't happen to people who don't do anything."
The president characterized the suspect as "a very sick person" and confirmed that authorities were investigating his California residence. Trump emphasized that despite his previous experiences with security threats, he remained shocked by the incident.
"I was totally shocked when something like this happens," Trump said on Saturday night. "It happened to me a little bit, and that never changes."
The president noted that while some attendees immediately recognized the sound of gunfire, others did not initially comprehend the danger. He confirmed that he and the First Lady were evacuated within seconds once Secret Service determined the threat level, though his initial resistance to leaving extended that timeline slightly.