President Donald Trump said he ‘wanted to see what was happening’ as suspected gunman Cole Thomas Allen, 31, opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
The president sat down with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell to discuss the frightening experience, when he revealed that he may have slowed down Secret Service agents’ response.
‘I was surrounded by great people and I probably made them act a little bit more sluggish,’ he recounted. ‘I said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see.”‘
When the agents then realized they had heard gunshots, they escorted the president and First Lady Melania Trump out of the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
Chilling surveillance footage from the hotel showed Allen rushing a security checkpoint before he was tackled by a swarm of armed officers, who exchanged fire.
One Secret Service member was injured in the melee, but has since been released from the hospital. The attendees, including the highest-ranking government officials, were evacuated and unharmed.
Following Allen’s arrest, FBI agents descended on his home in Torrance, California, alongside police. Agents were also seen knocking on doors in the suburban neighborhood.
Authorities are now learning about Allen’s potential motive and how he may have planned the attack. The New York Post reported that the suspect had been collecting an impressive arsenal of deadly weapons, including a Maverick 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and an Armscor semi-automatic pistol.
Allen reportedly legally purchased the weapons from two California gun stores, Turner’s Outdoorsman, which is owned by Bryan Harris, and CAP Tactical Firearms, owned by Bill Mullan.
A manifesto has also been uncovered. He reportedly sent the writings to family members before the attack, and his brother reported it to Connecticut police, CBS News first reported.
Law enforcement officials said after the incident that Allen had a firearm and multiple knives on him during his arrest. He is expected to be arraigned on federal charges on Monday.
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Trump reveals he told agents to ‘wait’ before he was led out of ballroom
President Donald Trump told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell that he may have slowed the Secret Service’s response after shots were fired on Saturday night.
In a clip of an interview that is set to air on ’60 Minutes’ tonight, Trump recounted how he ‘wanted to see what was happening.’
‘And I wasn’t going to make it that easy for them, I wanted to see what was going on,’ he said of the Secret Service.
But soon, he said, security ‘started to realize maybe it was a bad problem… different from [the] normal noise that you hear from a ballroom, which you hear all the time.
‘I was surrounded by great people and I probably made them act a little bit more sluggish,’ he continued. ‘I said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see.”‘
Trump said he then started walking with the agents out of the ballroom.
He said they were about halfway out when agents told him and First Lady Melania Trump to ‘Please go down to the floor, please go down to floor.’
‘So I dropped to the floor and the First Lady went down also,’ the president said.
PICTURED: FBI agents seen knocking on neighbors homes
WATCH: Gunshots heard at press dinner as Trump is evacuated from stage
Trump calls people who post conspiracy theories about shooting ‘sick’
In an extended interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, President Donald Trump called those who questioned the shooting ‘sick.’
‘I think they’re more sick than they are con people,’ he said. ‘But there are con people.’
Jimmy Kimmel was slammed for claiming Melania Trump looked like a ‘widow’ just days before shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Kimmel held a parody of the dinner an annual event honoring journalism and funding scholarships on Thursday when he called Melania an ‘expectant widow.’
‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,’ Kimmel said before turning his attention the First Lady’s birthday.
Trump denies political violence is worse than in the past
In his interview with ’60 Minutes’ on Sunday, President Donald Trump denied that political violence is worse than it has been in previous generations – though he lambasted Democrats for their rhetoric.
‘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,’ Trump told Norah O’Donnell.
But he later accused Democrats of using inflammatory language.
‘I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats much more so is very dangerous,’ Trump said. ‘I really think it’s very dangerous for the country.’
Trump commends law enforcement
President Donald Trump commended law enforcement for their quick response.
He said the alleged shooter was ‘almost like a blur’ as he raced through the hotel hallway on Saturday night, joking that the ‘NFL should sign him up.’
‘But it was amazing because as soon as they [law enforcement] saw that, you could see them draw their guns. They were so professional, aimed their guns, and then they took him down immediately,’ Trump told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell in an interview on ’60 Minutes.’
Trump calls for dinner to be rescheduled
President Donald Trump reiterated his calls for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to be rescheduled.
He said it would include ‘bigger security’ and ‘more perimeter security.’
‘I think it’s important that they do it again,’ Trump said of the dinner, adding that he does not want a ‘crazy person’ to succeed in cancelling it.
‘I’ve been through this a couple times’ Trump says
When asked on 60 Minutes Sunday night what he was thinking when Secret Service agents told him to drop to the ground, he said he had become used to it.
‘My thought was I’ve been through this a couple times,’ the president told Norah O’Donnell.
‘When they said “drop down,” that meant trouble,’ Trump said.
He added that his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, acted professionally.
‘She got it. She knew what was happening. She listened,’ Trump said.
The president previously faced an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024 and again months later in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump said he ‘wasn’t worried’
In an interview with 60 Minutes, President Trump insisted he ‘wasn’t worried’ after gunshots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
‘I understand life,’ the president said.
But he later said he believes his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, ‘realized ahead of time that that was a bullet and not a tray.’
She looked shocked as the bullets rang out.
As journalists and politicians cowered under the tables at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, one man calmly sat and enjoyed his meal.
Michael Glantz, a top agent at Creative Artists Agency, was caught on video calmly picking at the salad still on his plate and bringing it to his mouth in the moments after suspected gunman Cole Allen, 31, opened fire at the lavish event.
The footage quickly went viral on social media, as some netizens said they related to the man.
Senate Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley organizes briefing with Secret Service
Senate Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley announced on social media that he is setting up a briefing with the leaders of the Secret Service to discuss the security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
