Trump was a ‘caged lion’ eager to return to WHCA dinner after shooting, Karoline Leavitt says

WASHINGTON, DC: Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday, September 21, revealed new details on President Donald Trump’s behind-the-scenes response after gunfire disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April.

Speaking on 'Hang Out with Sean Hannity', Leavitt said Trump was eager to return to the Washington Hilton ballroom after being evacuated by the Secret Service. She described him as “like a caged lion” and said he repeatedly questioned why he could not go back.

Karoline Leavitt describes Trump’s push to return to ballroom

The April 25 dinner was interrupted shortly after Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and other senior administration officials arrived at the Washington Hilton.

According to the Justice Department, suspect Cole Thomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint toward the ballroom while carrying a shotgun and pistol, and a Secret Service officer was struck in the chest by a gunshot but protected by a ballistic vest. Trump and other officials were evacuated from the event.

Leavitt, who was serving as White House press secretary at the time, said Trump’s reaction backstage was markedly different from her own response to the shooting. “He was like a caged lion backstage, like just roaring to get out, like, ‘We gotta go back out there,’” she said. “And I'm sitting there like, ‘I don't know if I want to go back out there.’”

The 29-year-old said Trump continued pressing his security detail about returning to the ballroom even after he had been moved to safety. She recalled that he was prepared to remain at the hotel for hours if necessary while waiting for the event to restart. “He really was asking hard questions of his detail, like, ‘Why can't I go? I will wait all night. I don't care if it's 3 in the morning, get it started,’” Leavitt said.

The dinner was ultimately canceled following the shooting. Federal prosecutors later charged Allen with attempting to assassinate the president, along with other federal offenses. Authorities said the investigation found that Allen had traveled from California to Washington before the event and had approached the hotel security checkpoint carrying multiple weapons.

Trump addressed shooting from White House

Leavitt also described the administration’s decision to have Trump speak publicly about the incident that night. Rather than returning immediately to the dinner, Trump addressed reporters from the White House briefing room. “He wanted to say something and the best way to say it was in the briefing room. And we did,” Leavitt said.

Trump later appeared at the White House with senior administration officials and spoke about the shooting and his evacuation from the event. The April dinner brought together more than 2,000 journalists, government officials and other guests.

The WHCA subsequently rescheduled the dinner in July. At that event, White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang addressed the April shooting and a video montage revisited the evacuation and the response from journalists covering the incident.