United States President, Donald Trump, has said he “wasn’t worried” when he was evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after a gunman attempted to storm the venue.
“I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News programme 60 Minutes, a day after the shooting incident at a Washington DC hotel on Saturday night.
US media identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, who was arrested after authorities said he opened fire near a security checkpoint during the event. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
The FBI’s criminal division and terrorism task force have launched an investigation into the attack.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that early findings suggest the suspect was “likely” targeting senior White House officials present at the dinner, adding that the motive remains under investigation.
Trump attended the event alongside top government officials, including Vice-President JD Vance, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and senior aide Stephen Miller.
Following the security scare and evacuation, Trump told reporters during a briefing on Saturday: “I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that’s more dangerous”.
The White House later issued a statement on Sunday saying Trump “stands fearless” after surviving what it described as “an assassination attempt when shots were fired”, alongside other cabinet members.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang described the incident as “harrowing”.
Jiang, who was seated next to Trump during the dinner, also praised the Secret Service on Sunday for actions that “protected thousands of guests”.
In separate comments to Fox News, Trump said the suspect “had a lot of hatred in his heart for a while”, and noted that his family knew he had “difficulties”. He also claimed the suspect left behind a “manifesto” and suggested he was “strongly anti-Christian”.
Reports from US media, citing law enforcement sources, also indicate Allen had a history of posting anti-Trump content on social media.
The incident occurred at about 20:35 local time (00:35 GMT) on Saturday, when gunshots were heard in the foyer of the Washington Hilton hotel, where the dinner was being held in a ballroom below.
Security personnel quickly evacuated the president, First Lady Melania Trump and the vice-president from the venue.
Footage later circulated online showing Secret Service agents rushing JD Vance out of the event shortly before Trump’s evacuation, prompting questions about the sequence of events.
Speaking on 60 Minutes, Trump said he initially resisted leaving immediately.
“I was not making it easy” for agents, he admitted.
“I wanted to see what was happening… I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realise, maybe it was a bad problem.”
He added that security eventually instructed him to take cover, saying they told him to “please go down on the floor”, and he praised his protection detail as “great people”.
