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Donald Trump has explained why it took Secret Service personnel 20 seconds to evacuate him from a ballroom during an assassination attempt on Saturday night.
Gunshots rang out at the hotel where the formal White House Correspondents’ Dinner was being held, where the US President was preparing to address top US journalists on Saturday evening.
Dramatic footage showed Secret Service personnel surrounding Trump and the First Lady all in the same time it took for Vice President JD Vance to be yanked out off the stage.
Speaking with CBS last evening, Trump explained he held up his escape because he ‘wanted to see what was happening’.
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The Republican leader told the outlet: ‘It was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for ’em. I wanted to see what was going on.’
He explained that he was telling them to ‘wait a minute’ and ‘probably made them act a little bit more slowly’.
Trump also addressed speculation that he took a tumble on the way off the stage – saying he was told to get down.
He added: ‘What happened is then I started walking with them… and they said, “Please go down. Please go down on the floor.”
‘So I went down and the first lady went down also. But we were asked to go down by the agents.’
Timeline of Trump assassination attempts and major security threats
June 18, 2016: Assassination attempt at Las Vegas rally
While Trump was giving a presidential campaign speech at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, a British man, Michael Steven Sandford, attempted to grab a Las Vegas police officer’s pistol.
September 6, 2017: Forklift attack, North Dakota
On September 6, 2017, in North Dakota, Gregory Lee Leingang stole a forklift and attempted to drive it toward the presidential motorcade while Trump was visiting.
September 20, 2020: Ricin poisoning attempt
On September 20, 2020, Pascale Cécile Véronique Ferrier was arrested in Buffalo, New York, after a ricin-laced letter was intercepted, intended for Trump.
July 12, 2024: Murder-for-hire plot
A Pakistani national, Asif Merchant, was arrested and later convicted of running a murder-for-hire plot on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to kill Trump.
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July 13, 2024: Assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania
On July 13, 2024, shooter Thomas Crooks fired eight shots from an AR-15–style rifle at Trump while speaking at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear before dropping to the ground and being shielded by the Secret Service.
Crooks also killed one member of the audience, Corey Comperatore, and critically injured two others, before being shot and killed by a member of the Secret Service.
September 15, 2025: Assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida
On September 15, 2024, Ryan Routh was sighted with a rifle at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was golfing at the club.
Routh was arrested after fleeing the scene and was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.
February 22, 2026: Mar-a-Lago intruder
An armed intruder was shot dead on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in February.
Austin Tucker Martin was named as the gunman killed by the Secret Service at the president’s Florida retreat.
April 25, 2026: White House Correspondents’ dinner
Gunshots rang out at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the formal White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place on Saturday April 25, withTrump and Melania being rushed off stage.
The suspect, Coel Tomas Allen, was arrested on the scene.
Trump said he was then taken ‘to a hold room for a while’ while he ‘tried to get them to continue the event if possible’.
Asked what his thoughts were during the shooting, Trump replied: ‘My thought was, “You know, I’ve been through this before a couple of times.”‘
But he explained how it was the first time for his wife, Melania, saying she ‘handled it great’.
The Washington Post reported the Trump administration provided a lower level of security for the White House correspondents’ dinner than it has for other gatherings of high-ranking officials.
A man with guns and knives tried to rush past the security perimeter inside the Washington hotel where the Republican president was about to address the glitzy event.
Authorities are trying to determine what happened and why. A suspect was taken into custody and identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.
Officials have said that the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested.
The agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, Trump said.
Allen legally bought a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun two years later.
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