Washington DC: “Shots fired!” Those were the words that sent White House journalists, lobbyists, political staffers and the most senior members of the Trump administration ducking for cover under tables on what was supposed to be the night of nights for Washington’s media and political class.
The stage was set for a tantalising, record-breaking evening. Donald Trump, who had never attended the event as president, was at the long table at the front of the Hilton Hotel ballroom, alongside the first lady. Only moments earlier, one of his staffers was telling me how excited he was to deliver his speech – traditionally a comedic roast. A lot of time and effort went into crafting something memorable.
It wasn’t to be. Barely had the evening started – guests had just been told to sit for dinner – when gunshots were heard inside the ballroom. Trump later said it sounded like the clatter of a tray. But to reporter Juan Merlano, it sounded like gunfire.
“The dinner hadn’t even started yet and we heard shootings, like bangs,” the Colombian TV correspondent said. “I heard them from inside the room but we knew that it was just outside. Someone said “shots fired, shots fired”. Then everybody just went under the table. People were screaming and nobody knew what was going to happen.
“The Secret Service went into the ballroom, heavily armed. The police also went in. They took the president, ushered him out, and they start to search for each of the Cabinet members at the tables.”
Merlano, like many other journalists, got out as soon as he could. Not necessarily because of instinct but because, being reporters, they needed to file copy and video about this huge breaking news – and the phone reception inside the Hilton’s underground ballroom is notoriously bad.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy stood on the same corner doing a live cross as others waited for word about whether the event would resume. Trump soon posted on social media: as much as he would like to go back inside, the Secret Service recommended against it.
Instead, he would return to the White House and hold a live news conference in just 30 minutes. Reporters high-tailed it downtown, some running along 18th Street. Trump was whisked away at lightning speed – a reporter from the daily press pool travelling with the president said it was “the fastest motorcade I’ve ever been in”.
As always with breaking news, there were conflicting early reporters about what had happened. CNN initially reported the shooter was dead – the Secret Service quickly said he had, in fact, been apprehended. A 31-year-old man from California, Cole Tomas Allen, spent the night in custody. Trump said he was caught with multiple weapons.
The shooter’s dash towards the ballroom was brazen and shocking, although it seems that ultimately, the security set-up – enormous at functions such as these – did its job.
Still, at an after party at the Swiss ambassador’s residence later in the night, many attendees expressed shock at how relaxed the entry screening was at the correspondents’ dinner. The only thing guests needed to show was a printed invitation to reach the security perimeter where the gunman was taken down.
At the White House, Trump, with his tuxedo still on, appeared unfazed by the whole experience. It wasn’t his first time, he noted drily.
The president was adamant he would not allow another act of apparently politically motivated violence to change the way he performs his job or lives his life. These “crazy people” could not be allowed to “change the fabric of our lives”, he said. “We’re not going to cancel things out.”
Indeed, his main message was that the show would go on – the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days, and he would be there.
He also took the time to praise the spirit of unity and camaraderie that was evident in the room before the disruption.
“You had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives,” Trump said. “There was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I was very, very impressed by that.”
No doubt the US president will go back to lashing the fake news and sparring with reporters shortly. But not tonight. Tonight they were as one – victims of an all-too-familiar pattern in America and no closer to changing it.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.