Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, causing attendees to flee and Secret Service personnel to go into emergency mode.
First Lady Melania Trump and the president were “whisked away” in the chaos, and the president subsequently acknowledged that at first he was unaware of the gravity of the situation.
“I thought it was a tray that clattered on the ground,” he said to reporters during a hastily arranged White House press conference.
According to President Trump, neither he nor his team had any previous knowledge of the danger. “We wanted to stay tonight,” he continued. “I fought like hell to stay.”
When gunfire was heard inside the Washington Hilton at around 8:35 p.m. ET, people fled for their lives.
