Why was JD Vance evacuated before Trump during WHCD shooting? POTUS explains what happened, ‘I wanted to see…’

Donald Trump has explained why JD Vance was evacuated more quickly than himself after a shooting broke out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Published on: Apr 27, 2026, 13:13:00 IST

By Sumanti Sen

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President Donald Trump has explained why JD Vance was evacuated more quickly than himself after a shooting broke out at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Trump made the remarks during a conversation with CBS News Norah O’Donnell on 60 Minutes on Sunday, April 26.

Why was JD Vance evacuated before Trump during WHCD shooting? POTUS explains what happened (Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg) (Bloomberg)

“You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, bringing him out,” O’Donnell said to the president. “Then, the counterassault comes in, took 10 seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point, you were down. What was happening?”

‘I wanted to see what was happening’

“Well, what happened is, it was a little bit me,” Trump replied. “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 started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, a different kind of problem, a bad one.”

“And different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time,” Trump added. “And I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me see, wait a minute.’”

“Then, I started walking with them. I turned, I started walking. And they said, ‘Please go down. Please go down on the floor,’” Trump continued, explaining why he fell to the ground during the evacuation. ”So I went down, and the first lady went down, also. But we were asked to go down by the agents as I was walking."

When O’Donnell asked if the Secret Service agents wanted him and Melania Trump to basically crawl out, Trump replied, “Pretty much.”

White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, faces charges of two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon after breaching security at the Washington Hilton. He shot a law enforcement agent who was not seriously injured, Newsweek reported.

Trump and other government officials were evacuated from the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after gunshots broke out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sumanti Sen
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More

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