President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday (April 25) night after a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.

Dinner guests described a sudden, chaotic scene as agents sprinted toward the stage where Trump was seated, prompting attendees to duck beneath tables amid the sound of shattering glass and clattering silverware.

Reuters White House correspondent Bo Erickson said agents shielded Trump and escorted him away within seconds as armed officers secured the room.

Humeyra Pamuk, who is also a White House correspondent for Reuters, said Secret Service agents rushing toward the stage were the clearest sign something was wrong. “It was an incredible moment of confusion and shock,” she said, adding it was “the most eventful White House correspondents’ dinner I have ever been (to).”

The annual event was halted and later cancelled as emergency vehicles converged on the venue and attendees were ushered out. Trump was taken to a secure room offstage for about 30 minutes, according to Reuters journalist Trevor Hunnicutt, who was seated near the president on stage as a board member of the White House Correspondents Association.

Reporters were later told Trump would instead give a news briefing at the White House, about a mile away. Erickson said journalists biked or ran through shut-down streets to reach the briefing room, calling it a “surreal moment” capped by several senior administration officials appearing alongside Trump.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. FOOTAGE FILMED BY REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BO ERICKSON, SHOWING ATTENDEES AT WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION DINNER / SECRET SERVICE AGENTS SURROUNDING U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, ON STAGE AND ESCORTING HIM AWAY

2. FOOTAGE FILMED BY ERICKSON SHOWING SECRET SERVICE AGENTS WALKING TOWARDS STAGE, AUDIO OF OBJECTS CLATTERING

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BO ERICKSON, SAYING:

“What I first noticed was this absolute rush of waiters and people running down this center aisle towards the stage where President Trump was sitting. My Reuters colleagues and I, we were sitting actually very close to that stage and so you would just hear the ruffle of silverware and glasses start shattering, and it almost seemed like a stampede was running towards the president's table. That is when I turned and I was probably only about 30 yards away from where President Trump was sitting. And you saw these U.S. Secret Service agents getting on top of the president. He almost looked to be on his knees behind the table. And then they slowly started ushering him out as the federal agents with long tactical guns started to surround the president, ushering him off stage.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

4. TRUMP WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM AT WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING ROOM, FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL MEMBERS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

5. ERICKSON ASKING TRUMP QUESTION

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BO ERICKSON, SAYING:

“We then had this very surreal scene where we were told that President Trump was going to be giving a press briefing down the road about a mile away at the White House. And so a lot of the reporters in Washington, D.C., and there are a lot of them (who) were at this dinner and a lot of them who cover the White House. And so me and others started hopping on bikes, and other people were running all the way to the White House because the roads were completely shut down, because the president and these top-level officials were trying to leave this area when we were told that that dinner was no longer going to continue. So there were a lot of sweaty reporters running to the White House waiting to hear from President Trump. And I was in the front row of that press briefing. And it was also another surreal moment with the president standing with the top levels of the U.S. government, the defense secretary, the secretary of state, the FBI director.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

7. FOOTAGE FILMED BY REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, HUMEYRA PAMUK, SHOWING TRUMP BEING ESCORTED OFF STAGE

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, HUMEYRA PAMUK, SAYING:

“We have heard loud bangs, but frankly, we were sitting very close to the stage, so it was difficult to make anything of them. For us, the biggest sign was we saw Secret Service agents rush through the doors and towards the stage and towards the president. That was when everybody and at the same time, everybody started ducking under the tables. Take cover. That was when it was clear that something very odd, something very different was happening.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. FOOTAGE FILMED BY PAMUK SHOWING PERSON BEING ESCORTED AWAY / ERICKSON SEATED AT TABLE

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, HUMEYRA PAMUK, SAYING:

“I have been to many White House correspondents dinners. Obviously, we have never, ever seen anything like this before. Secret Service was very quick. President Trump was evacuated within… President Trump was whisked away from the stage within just a few seconds. We've also seen Vice President J.D. Vance being evacuated by his own team as well. It was an incredible moment of confusion and shock. People remained under the tables by the side of the tables, just trying to take cover while they try to figure out what was exactly going on. It was the most eventful White House correspondents' dinner I have ever been (to). I'm sure that's the case for everybody else.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

11. FOOTAGE FILMED BY PAMUK SHOWING ATTENDEES LEAVING DINNER AND GOING UP ESCALATOR

12. FOOTAGE FILMED BY PAMUK SHOWING EMERGENCY VEHICLES NEAR VENUE OF DINNER

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 26, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOT)

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, TREVOR HUNNICUTT, SAYING:

“The president was taken to a room just off stage where he stayed for some 30 minutes for a very, very long time as he essentially tried to regroup and essentially do the same speech that he was going to give the whole time and do it live. He really insisted many times that the speech go on, that the event go on. And that was the intention of a number of people there. However, the security agents, the Secret Service, they actually, you know, convinced the president not to do that, end the event. And so eventually the event was cancelled.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2026) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

14. TRUMP ARRIVING ON STAGE

15. REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, TREVOR HUNNICUTT (THIRD FROM LEFT), ON STAGE AT DINNER

16. AUDIO OF OBJECTS CLATTERING / SECRET SERVICE AGENTS SURROUNDING TRUMP AND RUNNING TO STAGE