Washington: US President Donald Trump said he wanted to see what was happening when Secret Service agents hustled him out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night after a gunman opened fire at the hotel.
In an interview with CBS ’60 Minutes’, Trump described the chaotic moments that ensued after shots were fired at the Washington Hilton hotel, one floor above the basement-level ballroom, which was the venue of the annual dinner.
Chaotic moments
“I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” Trump said when asked how worried he was about possible injuries after hearing the gunshots.
The US President said his curiosity to see for himself what was happening probably slowed the Secret Service’s efforts to rush him to safety.
“I wanted to see what was happening. I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realise maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of problem, a bad one – and different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom,” he said.
“I was surrounded by great people. And I probably made them act a little more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute’,” the President recalled, adding that the Secret Service agents had to repeatedly tell him to go down on the floor as they exited the stage.
“I started walking. And they said, ‘Please go down, please go down on the floor.’ So I went down and the first lady went down also,” Trump said.
Heated exchange
The interview witnessed some heated moments as Trump was asked about certain references made to him by the suspect in a manifesto shared with his family members before the attack.
“I was waiting for you to read that, because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people,” Trump said.
“Yeah, he did write that, I’m not a rapist … I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes, you’re a disgrace, but go ahead, let’s finish the interview,” the president said.
When the interviewer followed up by asking if he believed the shooter was referring specifically to him, Trump said: “I’m not a pedophile…You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”
Event reschedule
The President urged the White House Correspondents’ Association to reschedule the event within the next 30 days.
“I don’t want to see it be cancelled. I think it’s really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this,” Trump said, adding: “It’s not that I want to go. I’m very busy. I don’t need that.”
The man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner sent writings to family members minutes before the shooting referring to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin,” railing against Trump administration policies and signalling what investigators increasingly believe was a politically driven attack, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
Suspect writings
The writings, sent shortly before shots were fired at the Washington Hilton, made repeated references to President Donald Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including US strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said.
Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence yet of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.
Authorities also uncovered what the official described as numerous anti-Trump social media posts linked to the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple weapons.
Ongoing probe
Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings, according to the official. A police spokesperson said they contacted federal law enforcement after receiving that information.
Federal agents have also interviewed Allen’s sister in Maryland, who told investigators her brother had legally purchased several weapons from a California gun store and stored them at their parents’ home in Torrance without their knowledge, according to the official.
She described her brother as prone to making radical statements, the official said.
Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later, the official and another law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
Authorities are still trying to determine how specific Allen’s alleged targets were. Officials have said investigators are examining whether his grievances centered on Trump and Vice President JD Vance personally or reflected a broader hostility toward the administration.
The officials were not authorised to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
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