Politics
‘Shots Fired!’: Inside the Pandemonium at the Washington Hilton
A man armed with knives, a shotgun and a handgun was barreling through security at a full sprint, heading toward the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
At that moment on Saturday night, President Trump and many of America’s top government officials and journalists were one floor down, crammed into the ballroom for a black-tie dinner. The mentalist Oz Pearlman, the night’s entertainer, was leaning over Mr. Trump and the first lady, demonstrating one of his mind-reading tricks by trying to guess the name that the White House press secretary had picked out for her baby, due to be born any day.
Suddenly, the look on Mr. Pearlman’s face changed to one of alarm. Several loud but strangely muffled bangs were going off somewhere in the distance. The first lady ducked under the table. The president stayed seated as Secret Service agents, dressed in tuxedos, surrounded him and began to draw their weapons.
The pop-pop-pop that the crowd was hearing was the sound of gunfire before the authorities managed to tackle the suspect, who never made it into the ballroom. But in the moment, it was difficult to tell what exactly was happening. Guests dived to the floor and hid behind chairs. Secret Service agents climbed over tables to protect cabinet members and some of the country’s most high-ranking officials, smashing plates of spring peas and burrata that had been served only minutes earlier.
As agents hustled the president out of the room, Mr. Trump appeared to trip or get pushed down. Vice President JD Vance was pulled from his seat by his shoulders. When agents grabbed Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, they briefly got stuck between two tight tables and had to redirect toward a different exit.
The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., was taken into custody quickly. And while the investigation is in its early stages, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said Mr. Trump was “likely” a target, along with others in the administration.
It was a shocking night. And in that way, it was in keeping with the nonstop, previously unimaginable events of Washington in the Trump era, in which no week seems to pass by without some extraordinary turn of events. By the end of the evening, the president would show graciousness to the journalists he had planned to skewer and, after 15 months of attacking Democrats and reporters as enemies, he would take the occasion to call for unity.
Mr. Trump rushed back to the White House to speak to the nation about what he had just been through, suggesting that only the most consequential leaders become targets of assassins and using the moment to sell the need for his beloved White House ballroom. Reporters, editors and influencers on the scene scrambled for cover, but not without holding their phones aloft for livestreams, Instagram posts and documentation of a crime in progress.
Some of them made it out to after-parties scattered all over town, but the gatherings were scaled back or half empty, since many reporters ended up working late into the evening.
This account of the pandemonium that erupted on Saturday night at the White House correspondents’ dinner is based on reporting by New York Times journalists who were on the scene, surveillance footage and interviews with other witnesses.
‘Shots Fired!’
Even before the chaos broke out, Saturday was expected to be an intense spectacle. Just not like this.
It was Mr. Trump’s first time attending this black-tie dinner as president. He would be showing up to make remarks after a year spent sparring with reporters who cover him, suing them and their employers for billions of dollars and insulting them, often in viciously personal terms.
As he pulled out of the White House driveway a few minutes before 8 p.m., he could be seen looking over a printed copy of the speech he planned to give that evening — one he would later characterize as the “most inappropriate speech ever made.”
No one would get to hear it.
Inside the cavernous ballroom, guests were seated at tables of 10. Waiters, squeezing through the packed room of more than 230 tables, made the rounds to pass out bottles of champagne.
Most of Mr. Trump’s cabinet and top officials were in attendance. Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, was seated toward the back of the room with The Daily Mail. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, were closer to the front.
The main course had not even been served by the time the gunshots were heard.
Gun-toting agents started running through the hallways outside the ballroom, screaming at people to get low. Caterers in white jackets cried out in terror as they bolted for cover in a stairwell. The gunfire sounded like shattering plates; the president would later say he thought it was a tray clanging to the floor.
“Shots fired, shots fired!” agents called out as they pinioned the small group of reporters and photographers traveling with the president into a corner against a wall.
A moment later, various cabinet members with heavy security details were escorted out of the ballroom with stricken looks on their faces. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Cheryl Hines, appeared around the corner first; guards were gripping Mr. Kennedy so tightly that he appeared to be limping. Bystanders worried he had been shot. His guards stood him up a little straighter as they began banging their fists on an elevator door to open.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, came wheeling around the corner and into a different elevator. Mr. Patel tore down the hallway with two men in tow.
Inside the ballroom, as guests took shelter under tables and behind chairs, Michael Glantz, a top agent at Creative Artists Agency, stayed in his seat and picked at the burrata on his plate — a stark contrast to the chaotic scene unfolding and one that was captured live on CNN and went viral on social media.
On Sunday, Mr. Glantz said he did not consider leaving his seat.
“First of all, I have a bad back,” he said. “I couldn’t get on the floor, and if I did get on the floor, they’d have to bring in people to get me off the floor. And No. 2, I’m a hygiene freak. There was no freaking way I was getting in my new tux on the dirty Hilton floor. It was not happening.”
‘Let the Show Go On’
Shortly after Mr. Trump was whisked offstage, he made clear that he wanted the dinner to proceed.
“Quite an evening in D.C.” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social at 9:17 p.m. “Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement.”
Hotel staff reset the place settings at the head table and refilled the cups with water and ice. Weijia Jiang, a CBS News correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, briefly returned to the stage and said the dinner would begin again shortly.
“I know everyone is going to want as many details as possible, and right now we don’t have them,” Ms. Jiang said. “But I can tell you that our program is going to resume momentarily and we will have more details to share also momentarily.”
Security officials ultimately decided Mr. Trump had to leave, however. “Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately,” the president posted on Truth Social at 9:36 p.m.
He also said he would be giving a news conference “in 30 minutes.”
The group of journalists that travels with the president wherever he goes — known as the press pool — was ushered back upstairs, out of the Hilton and into the waiting vans. The presidential motorcade peeled out of the parking lot at 9:45 p.m., racing down the hill back toward the White House.
Back at the White House, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio was pacing outside on the driveway outside the West Wing in his tuxedo. He would soon be by the president’s side at a news conference that started just after 10:30 p.m.
‘It’s Always Shocking’
The 30-minute notice for a presidential news conference set off a mad dash among some journalists who struggled to find taxis with the hotel swarmed with law enforcement. Some decided to travel the mile and a half to the White House on foot, setting off at a quick trot.
The briefing room was filled with reporters in evening wear; the president, first lady and cabinet officials in attendance were also still in their formal clothes.
Mr. Trump updated the media on the situation — he said that a Secret Service officer had been shot but was protected by a bulletproof vest. He was taken to a hospital, officials said. There were no other reported injuries, according to Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary.
“It’s always shocking when something like this happens,” Mr. Trump said, standing with the first lady, the vice president, the defense secretary, the secretary of state, the acting attorney general, the F.B.I. director and the press secretary.
He also used the moment to argue that his 90,000-square-foot ballroom project is necessary.
“I didn’t want to say this,” he said, “but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s a much more secure. It’s got — it’s drone proof, it’s bulletproof glass.”
It’s not clear why the ballroom was entirely relevant; the dinner is staged by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a large collective of journalists, and not the administration. It has been held at the Hilton for more than five decades.
Still, Mr. Trump said he had spoken with the organizers of the correspondents’ dinner, and vowed to reschedule it within 30 days.
Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Trump could fire independent regulators for any reason. But the justices carved out an exception for the Federal Reserve, preventing the immediate removal of Lisa D. Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.
Politics
Emotion and feelings: How Democratic Socialists’ congressional insurgency could come back to bite them
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Democratic Socialists of America are on the charge, running hot off their wins in the New York Democratic primaries last week. Their victories in multiple Congressional seats – felling both Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. – signals that the party is ready to move on from the same old, same old.
Espaillat chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Goldman was a key House staffer during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.
“Even Dan Goldman’s not good enough for them,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Fox. “That is how radical it’s become.”
Some moderate Democrats are trying to distance themselves from the left.
MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES
The left flank of the Democratic Party has surged to the top of the nation’s most hotly-contested primaries. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“That’s not the same brand of politics that we have. We’re not those type of Democrats,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who represents a battleground district.
“There’s a new group of Democratic Socialists who are socialists who are not commonsense Democrats. Who are not interested in getting things done. They’re interested in throwing bombs. Not actually solving problems,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.
LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS
Some Democrats are worried how far left candidates command more attention than those in the middle. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., worries that the outsized attention garnered by the left sends the wrong impression to voters.
“What they don’t want is divisiveness. They don’t want screaming and yelling,” said McDonald Rivet.
Mainstream Democrats feel trapped in the middle as the left – specifically the New York City left – wields an outsized media and political megaphone.
“Those candidates would not have won in Virginia where I live,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., is among the moderate Democrats trying to distance themselves from the party’s insurgent wing. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Republicans believe they are primed to nationalize the midterms. Republicans can do that by highlighting the extreme views of Democratic Socialists who captured primary victories in New York City. The GOP wants to portray their opponents as veering left.
“These are board-certified communists, right?” asked Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “They want no police. They want no private property.”
President Trump capitalized on the Democratic outcomes in his home city.
“The Democrat party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” he forecast.
VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
This shakeup has progressive leaders demanding transformation at the top.
“You’re going to see, I think, people voting for new leadership and to change their representation,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The Democratic Party tapped Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to deliver their official response to President Trump’s 2025 State of the Union speech. Slotkin is a moderate who won in a battleground race in 2024 – even as the President prevailed in the Wolverine State. But during an appearance on SiriusXM, Slotkin insists on a Democratic Party management switch.
“If people can’t understand that the game has fundamentally changed and they can’t adapt, then they need to let others,” said Slotkin. “The old models do not work for people.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is perceived by Republicans as vulnerable after his preferred candidates failed in their congressional primaries. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
Republicans believe House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is vulnerable after the DSA elected their candidates over his preferred picks in New York City.
“I think Hakeem Jeffries’ friends and neighbors gave him a big middle finger,” said House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. “If you lose three elections in your hometown, that’s a pretty big slap in the face.”
He added that Democrats “are going further and further to the left to the point where they are full-blown, card-carrying socialists.”
And then there is the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and in some cases, antisemitic take by some of these candidates. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, is a moderate Democrat from a swing district. He’s Jewish and one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House.
“There are some on the left who use Israel the way that some on the right use immigrants or trans kids as a way to divide. And I think it’s terrible. It’s also just not what voters want us talking about,” said Landsman.
HOUSE DEMOCRAT LASHES OUT WHEN GRILLED ON WHETHER SOCIALIST VICTORIES WOULD THREATEN DEM UNITY
Yours truly tangled with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. – who once chaired the House Democratic Caucus. I pressed him about what the party would do about some candidates “who are too far to the left.”
“What does that mean? That’s your statement. Did the people of New York vote?” queried Larson.
I assured him that they did.
“Is that democracy?” asked Larson.
“But if some of them are antisemitic,” I countered.
“Is that a democracy?” continued Larson.
“Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” I followed up.
Larson finally addressed my inquiry. His answer crystallized the schism the Democratic Party now faces.
“I’m against antisemitism, if that’s your question,” Larson declared.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., got into a heated exchange with Fox News’ Chad Pergram over the views of some likely members of his party’s next freshman class. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The fact that Democrats are now facing this debate robs them of valuable time on economic issues.
Landsman argued that voters would prefer candidates to stick to groceries and the price of gas.
Gottheimer echoed Landsman on kitchen table subjects.
“We should be focused on ways to actually solve problems like that. Not coming in here and using tea party tactics and trying to divide up the country and pray to socialist ideals,” said Gottheimer.
So what is the party to do?
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“They’re our nominees. We’re going to support them. We’re going to welcome them. They’re going to be part of our caucus and we’re going to unite behind Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight panel.
But that doesn’t address the fissures. It doesn’t address how voters may perceive the party. And it doesn’t establish if these new Democratic nominees will work on behalf of the party to raise money and advocate for Democrats across the board. Or, will they become professional bomb throwers – ala what the right has endured for a while.
“It’s going to be a lot harder to get things done when you get more and more extreme candidates who are here because they’re interested in political celebrity. They are interested in fighting. They’re interested in making points,” asserted Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.
Republicans have had an abysmal week themselves – President Donald Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., for instance, got into a shouting match over Iran. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)
Republicans suffered through an absolutely abysmal week. House GOP leaders had to yank multiple bills off the floor and send lawmakers home early because of internal disputes. President Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., got into a shouting match about Iran. And the president even threatened to veto a bipartisan housing bill. President Trump then refused to sign the bill at the Capitol, despite his aides touting the bill and House Republicans tricking out Statuary Hall for a signing ceremony.
The President characterized the housing bill as “a yawn.”
But the Democrats’ internal fractures may have superseded any internecine fighting among Republicans.
“While it’s not been a great week for Republicans, I think it’s been a much worse week for Democrats because of these primary elections,” observed Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.
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Democrats will certainly run on economic issues and capitalize on statements by the President about basic issues like housing. But will a genuine policy debate outweigh fears about progressives nationwide?
Emotion and feelings rule in politics. And it could be a problem for Democrats if Republicans appropriate what happened in New York and Xerox it onto battleground districts across the country.
Anthropic teamed up with California to get more state workers to use its artificial intelligence assistant Claude as part of an effort to leverage technology to make the government more efficient.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who announced the partnership on Monday, said state agencies will be able to access Claude at a 50% discount. Free training and other assistance will also be available to the workers. California’s local governments will also get the same discount under the agreement.
Government workers can use Claude to draft and summarize documents, analyze information and do other tasks.
Anthropic, an AI company based in San Francisco, has a version of its AI assistant for government clients that provides more security than what it provides other consumers.
The new partnership shows how AI is playing a bigger role at work as tech companies market their tools as ways to complete tasks more quickly. Last year, San Francisco made Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, which is powered by OpenAI’s model, available to nearly 30,000 city employees.
Still, the rise of automation at work has heightened concerns that people will lose their jobs. There are also worries that there are not yet adequate guardrails in place to mitigate data privacy and security risks.
Anthropic and the governor said that they’re focused on the responsible use of AI.
“AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians,” Newsom said in a statement.
The remarks didn’t appear to comfort union leaders.
“Wow. Look local government, the Gov is giving you a 50% off coupon to give up your residents’ private data, outsource your jobs to big tech. Isn’t that cool? Because California basically invented AI slop!” said Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, in a post on X.
Anthropic has faced political hurdles as it pushes to get more companies and government agencies to use its products.
Most notable, it’s sparred publicly with the Trump administration, which ordered the company to cut off foreign access to its most powerful AI systems this month.
The Trump administration cited potential national security risks, but Anthropic disagreed with the findings. Last week, tensions decreased after the U.S. government gave Anthropic permission to restore access to its AI model Mythos to certain clients.
Valued at nearly $1 trillion, Anthropic has also signaled it plans to become a publicly traded company.
California has already started using Claude more in state government to develop tools to get the public to engage more in AI policy discussions and assist state workers, the governor’s office said in its news release.
State agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, are also using AI to reduce wait times and improve customer service.
“As state employees, our goal is to provide our fellow Californians with the best possible service,” Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros said in a statement. “To do that, we need to make sure our teams have access to the best modern tools, including Claude and other emerging technologies.”
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