Donald Trump has provided his personal account of the moment a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner, revealing he defied Secret Service agents who were attempting to evacuate him as the attack unfolded.
Speaking on CBS's 60 Minutes, the President disclosed that he resisted being moved to safety as suspected gunman Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, descended upon the event at Washington DC's Hilton Hotel, shooting one officer in the chest before being detained.
Mr Trump said: "It was a little bit me, I wanted to see what was happening and I wasn't making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on - and by that time we realised maybe it was a bad problem. A different kind of a problem - a bad one."
He recounted instructing agents to hold back as they pressed him to take cover. The President continued: "I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said 'wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see. Hold on a minute.' I started walking, they said 'Please go down, please go down.' So I went down and the First Lady went down."
When presenter Norah O'Donnell suggested to Mr Trump that he had crawled from the scene, he refused to confirm this, maintaining instead that he had walked out - "not that tall."
Who is the suspect in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting?
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed that officials believe Allen — identified as a teacher from California — travelled across the country ahead of the annual event, taking a train from California to Chicago before making his way to Washington, where he checked into the hotel as a guest.
Law enforcement officials examining his electronic devices and writings believe he intended to target members of the Trump administration in attendance.
"It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president," Blanche told NBC's Meet the Press.
Allen faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, with further charges anticipated.
What did suspect Cole Tomas Allen's manifesto say?
Allen is reported to have sent a chilling anti-Trump manifesto to his family shortly before opening fire, naming himself the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and indicating he was determined to kill administration officials, according to The Washington Post.
In the document, Allen allegedly stated he planned to use buckshot rather than slugs "in order to minimize casualties" and to reduce penetration through walls — while also declaring he would be willing to kill everyone present, according to the New York Post. A US official revealed that the disturbing note — sent roughly ten minutes before the shooting — listed his targets as "Administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Patel)... prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest."
Within the manifesto, Allen is reported to have written: "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes" — an apparent reference to allegations critics have levelled against Trump, which the President has firmly denied.
