The 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, a staple gathering for Washington’s political and media elite held at the Washington Hilton hotel, descended into chaos Saturday night when gunshots rang out, leaving attendees and the public shaken by a brazen attempted attack targeting former U.S. President Donald Trump. In the aftermath of the incident, the performer on stage at the time of the shooting has shared a gripping first-hand account of the split-second terror that unfolded just feet from the former president.
Oz Pearlman, a well-known mentalist who was mid-act when the shots erupted, told the BBC that he was interacting directly with Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt when the attack began. At that exact moment, Pearlman was in the middle of a signature mind-reading trick: he had just written his guess for the name of Leavitt’s upcoming baby on a slip of paper, preparing to reveal it to the audience. In an instant, the festive atmosphere shattered at the sound of gunfire.
“I went down very quickly. And then the Secret Service brought President Trump down: I would say very effectively – but quite violently,” Pearlman recalled. The performer, who ended up mere centimeters from Trump on the venue floor, described the surreal, terrifying moment the pair locked eyes as shots continued to ring out. “We were about half-a-metre apart… face-to-face looking at each other on the ground, when I’m hearing shots and thinking to myself, ‘We’re about to die,’” he said.
Pearlman added that the initial rush of Secret Service agents initially led him to believe an explosive device was set to detonate, rather than an active shooter situation. “It didn’t feel like they were looking for a shooter. It felt like they were looking to stop something from happening,” he explained. Within just two seconds of taking cover, agents evacuated Trump from the venue, while Pearlman and other nearby attendees crawled to safety on their own.
In a post-incident interview with CBS’s *60 Minutes* Sunday, Trump downplayed the danger he faced, saying he “wasn’t worried” during the ordeal. “I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” the former president commented. He confirmed that both he and the First Lady followed security instructions to take cover on the floor before being evacuated.
Law enforcement officials have identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, a California resident who was arrested immediately after the shooting. According to two sources familiar with the investigation who spoke to CBS, the BBC’s U.S. news partner, Allen told authorities after his detention that he specifically intended to target current and former officials from the Trump administration. The shooting exchange occurred on a floor directly above the dinner ballroom, where Trump and hundreds of other attendees were gathered. Allen is scheduled to be arraigned at a Washington, D.C. court hearing Monday, where formal charges will be filed against him.