Trump shares what was discussed at head table before gunshots were fired at WHCD
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has revealed the discussion that was going on at the head table before gunshots were heard at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, had opened fire outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
The commander-in-chief reportedly spoke with CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell on Sunday, April 26, while recalling Saturday's incident. He shared that just before the firing, the event’s entertainer, mentalist Oz Pearlman, was trying to guess the name of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s second baby.
Trump realized something was wrong after seeing Melania's changed expression
Leavitt is expected to deliver her baby girl in the coming weeks, and Pearlman apparently correctly guessed the name, leaving the political spokesperson as well as CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang stunned.
🚨 Trump on First Lady’s reaction during the incident:
— Inside the conflict (@InsidConflict) April 27, 2026
“Her face looked alarmed? Who wouldn’t be in a situation like that? She realized very quickly that wasn’t a tray — it was a bullet.” pic.twitter.com/zkK6LlhvO4
“Right around that point, you can see the expression on the first lady’s face,” Trump stated while noting that at the moment he understood something was not right.
He then mentioned, “Well, my thought was, ‘You know, I've been through this before a couple of times.’ And-- she has not to this extent. She handled it great.”
“I mean, she was-- she's-- very strong, smart. She got it. She knew what was happening. She listened. I did too, by the way,” Trump added.
Trump appeared to blame Democrats for the Saturday firing
Also during the interview, the Republican leader was asked, “Political violence has touched so many people in that room. Is there something that you, as president, can do? What can be done to change the trajectory?”
In response, Trump said, “Well, you know, you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years, it's always been there. People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt. And I'm not sure that it's any more now than there was.”
“I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats, much more so, is very dangerous. I really think it's very dangerous for the country,” he asserted.
Blanche says suspect wanted to target 'folks who work in the administration, likely including' Trump
Meanwhile, as per reports, after Allen’s arrest, a note was found that he had sent to his family in which he had said, “I don’t expect forgiveness. Again, my sincere apologies.”
“Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” he allegedly wrote. He had even added that he “experience[s] rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”
As per Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spoke to NBC’s 'Meet the Press', "It does appear that he [Allen] did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president."