I arrived at the Hilton Washington DC alone, representing GB News at the biggest news media night of the year in America’s capital: the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
I didn’t have a seat in the ballroom itself. That’s often how these things go - you rely on contacts, last-minute drop-outs and reshuffles, the quiet promise that something might open up.
A few friends had said they’d look out for an empty seat and drop me a message to come down should the chance arise. So I positioned myself upstairs, in the bar area, chatting to fellow politicos and hoping a place might materialise.
But all heads turned when the only people to race hurriedly downstairs were armed Secret Service officers with bulletproof vests and a determined look in their eyes; the incongruous squeak of trainers sprinting across the marble tiles whilst women in ballgowns looked on.
We only saw the commotion in the ballroom below on the huge bar-room TV: more than 2000 people in tuxedos and dresses diving for cover, pulled tablecloths upsetting the glassware and confused gasps of shock.
I made my way to the main doorway, figuring that any cabinet members would be whisked away and into the many blacked-out SUVs parked outside. The night’s sky was already alight with red and blue flashing lights.
Dr Mehmet Oz from the Department of Health and Human Services was hurried out, flanked by multiple officers. He was visibly shaken, eyes wide, moving quickly under escort. Whatever was happening downstairs, it was already serious.
But very few of the invitees emerged. We learnt that they had ‘locked down’ the room, rumours swirled that a man had been shot dead by the police, that he had not penetrated the main room.
A few individuals ascended the escalators, including Andrew Calvert, best friend and colleague of the late Charlie Kirk, looking ashen, genuinely rattled, immediately surrounded by friends trying to steady him, asking what had happened.
Seemingly unable to form a clear answer, he simply said: "I need to get out of here." Downstairs, Charlie’s widow Erica was also being escorted out in tears. The horrific sense of ‘not again’ hanging heavy over all attendees from TPUSA.
I attended the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. This is how the chaos unfolded
|Getty Images
We were held upstairs but allowed to remain in the building. You could feel the tension rising - phones out, messages flying, fragments of information travelling faster than certainty. This was a building full of journalists; the race for any snippet of factual information was palpable.
From the vantage point in the lobby, I saw everything and nothing. Not the incident itself - but the human shockwaves of it; the confusion and disorientation.
But we still hadn’t heard anything official. I made enquiries, talking to members of the White House press team who also did not know what had happened.
They weren’t overly anxious but more concerned that they were doing their jobs properly on a night when they were meant to be enjoying a rare night off.
Ben Leo was in the studio, less than two miles away, covering the event live, and I hurriedly liaised with the producer, Evan, to jump onto a Zoom link and report from the ground.
I spoke to two exhilarated guests who were on a weekend away and unconnected to the event. They had no idea this high-profile occasion was taking place when they made their booking – an astonishing fact, in retrospect and one which raises questions about the seriousness with which the security risk was taken.
Legendary anchor Wolf Blitzer was beside me, broadcasting live into CNN. I waited until he stopped talking and politely asked him a few questions on camera.
As the doors had been locked when the shooter was spotted, he and I were the only broadcasters outside and able to speak to our outlets live.
As details began to filter through, the picture became more disturbing. A heavily armed individual - reported to have travelled into Washington in advance and booked a room in the hotel - attempted to reach the main event space where senior political figures and media were gathered.
If security had not intervened within moments, Allen could have found himself in a packed room, mere metres away from the most powerful group of political individuals in the world and a room of onlookers uniquely designed to describe proceedings.
We heard that an agent had been injured but protected by body armour. The situation was contained with extraordinary speed.
The White House press girls reacted with relief when the President took to social media. “The President has Truthed!” they told journalists urgently.
Word came that key figures had been moved to safety. That the immediate danger had passed.
The alleged gunman was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old from California.
He wasn’t just armed - he was heavily equipped. Reports indicate he carried a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
The scale of such a potentially catastrophic event sat easily next to the banal: as the guests were allowed to leave the ballroom and filter upstairs, talk turned to which after-parties would still be held.
Hundreds of journalists (a crowd who will rarely turn down a party) sauntered upstairs carrying unopened bottles of wine and slumped into bar chairs, expressing starvation and searching for restaurants which might take unexpected parties of 10 at the last minute.
There was no panic; no tears or distress, simply a keep-calm-carry-on-and-file-some-copy insouciance. The press corps is an unflappable bunch: writing to deadlines from sometimes dangerous locations is good training for a night of potential assassinations. And, of course, dark humour underpins much of what we do.
The overriding emotions, however, were relief and gratitude: it could have been so much worse. The security may have been rather old-fashioned - an unnamed paper ticket and a smile – but security had worked when it had to.
All those crying for biometric ID entry systems must be careful of over-reach in the aftermath of such occasions: nothing is foolproof.
Given that the roads were closed for several blocks, I walked to find an Uber and then crossed another three blocks barefoot to the White House, carrying my high heels and lamenting the need to wear formalwear when drama unfolds.
I spoke to Ben Leo on The Late Show Live again from The Briefing Room and gulped a vending-machine iced coffee before setting off to walk another barefoot mile at 1 am to the GB News offices.
Ben Leo had remained at the studio, and I made us both hot cups of tea, thrilled to eat a slice of cold pizza that Ben had the forethought to have delivered during his show.
We were soon up on Breakfast, talking to Stephen and Anne down the line. Thoughts were already turned to the fact that all of this was unfolding on the eve of a major royal visit: would this change plans?
Would the King and Queen Camilla have stern questions for the POTUS security team? No amount of protection is ever going to be 100 per cent reliable, and that is a sobering fact for any occasion.
Officials now believe the attacker was aiming at Trump and senior members of his administration.
The speed of the response is the only reason we are not talking about something far worse today. The suspect was subdued and taken into custody at the scene within minutes.
Later, more details began to filter through, and we now know that Allen wrote a manifesto including the line, 'The security at the event is all outside...because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before'.
Investigators say Allen may have acted alone and had sent troubling messages beforehand, including references to political grievances and his hatred of Trump.
This is at least the third attempt on Trump’s life in recent years - an extraordinary and deeply worrying pattern.
Commentators shout about the violent rhetoric of the political Right, and yet those in the crosshairs are repeatedly Republicans.
Just as in previous attempts on Trump’s life, social media was awash with ‘left-wing’ thinkers lamenting the fact that it had not been ‘successful’ and the President had walked away unscathed.
Perhaps the most astonishing turn of events in an extraordinary night was that the President and key figures, including Marco Rubio and Kash Patel, chose not to turn in with a shake of the head an early night, but, instead, travelled straight to The Briefing Room to address the press.
People who hate Trump won’t give him the credit that he deserves for that: he wanted to clarify and explain; reassure the nation, crack a few jokes and assert his intention to reschedule in 30 days.
That is what true leadership looks like. He was asked if he should only ever hold events indoors and shooed away such a ridiculous, defeatist suggestion.
It was no coincidence that so many of his cabinet were in attendance for the event: they love the President – not with the sycophantic devotion that the press would like you to believe – but with a true respect and loyalty that very few leaders inspire. Despite the social media outbursts and sometimes snappy responses to journalists, Trump #2 is much softer than in his first term.
He is older, more patient and surrounded by people he trusts. And they trust him. They knew that a crowd of predominantly Democrat-leaning journalists might be somewhat hostile, and they were there to support him.
And after last night, they will only double down on their efforts to stand by and protect a man who continues to attract the very worst, violent intentions of a few crazy attention-seekers.
Ben and I eventually wrapped up at 5 am and headed home, dizzy with fatigue as the adrenaline wore off. We are now braced for what will be a historic few days with King Charles and Queen Camilla arriving on Monday afternoon and appearing across the week in Washington and New York, before flying to Bermuda on Thursday.
The attempt on Trump’s life will act as a perspective check on petty squabbles between Prime Ministers and, paradoxically, may have been a positive prelude to this important soft-power engagement.The King will no doubt offer his heartfelt regret at such a potentially dangerous event. Trump will laugh it off (whilst making sure that justice is served behind-the-scenes), but it has, rather serendipitously, overshadowed the beef between Starmer and POTUS. The story has moved on, and the President is now cast as a more sympathetic figure.
So the stage is now set for a State Visit hosted by a man who has survived yet again. Pouring oil on troubled political waters will be easy by comparison. We will bring you every moment on GBNews.