President Donald Trump sidestepped questions relating to Melania and her reaction to the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. On Sunday, April 26, the US president sat down with CBS's 60 Minutes to reflect on the previous evening's events, which saw a gunman storm the Washington Hilton.
During their conversation, Norah O'Donnell enquired about both his and his wife's response. Although he did share details of Melania's 'rather traumatic experience' the night before, he remained guarded throughout the interview. O'Donnell had asked, 'Her face, she looked very alarmed. Was she scared?' prompting the president to say, 'Well, I don't want to say, and people don't like having it said that they were scared, but certainly.'
'I mean, who wouldn't be when you have a situation like that?' he continued, adding, 'I think she realized ahead of time that it was more of a bullet than it was a tray.'
Upon rewatching the footage ahead of the interview, he recalled looking at his wife and thinking, 'She looked very upset about what just took place,' reports the Mirror US.
Just as guests were finishing the salad course of the dinner, Donald and his wife, Melania, were spotted in conversation with Karoline Leavitt and CBS's Weijia Jiang when gunshots rang out. Attendees swiftly took cover beneath their tables while Donald Trump and JD Vance were immediately escorted away from the stage. Later that evening, the US president held a press briefing, where he unveiled disturbing footage of the gunman charging at security following the shooting.
'He was running full blast, but they got him,' Trump said.
During his address, he also praised his wife for her composure under pressure. He said: 'I want to thank the first lady for what was a rather traumatic experience for her. There was a lot of action taking place up there very quickly, but again, the response time was really incredible.'
The president revealed that Melania had reacted swiftly to the sound of the gunshot. He had initially 'sort of thought it was a tray' while 'she knew immediately what happened.'
The Secret Service moved in rapidly as shouting was heard at the back of the room. The remainder of the room was placed on lockdown for roughly an hour after the shots were fired.
The event resumed as normal at 9pm (2am UK time), when Jiang, the White House Correspondents' Association president, delivered a welcome speech and invited all guests back to their seats.
The gunman was taken into custody and identified as a 31-year-old California teacher named Cole Allen. He has been charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault of a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
