White House Correspondents Association President's Statement on Dinner Shooting
Weijia Jiang at the 2026 White House Correspondents Association Dinner.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Weijia Jiang, White House Correspondents Association president and CBS News’ senior White House correspondent, is addressing the “harrowing” shooting incident at the Saturday night dinner.
The morning after shots were fired at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where President Donald Trump was in attendance, Jiang took to X Sunday to share that the “WHCA board will be meeting to assess what happened and determine how to proceed.”
“Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance,” she wrote in a lengthy statement. “We express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. Secret Service and all law enforcement personnel who ensured the safety of everyone in the ballroom and beyond. Their actions protected thousands of guests, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to the officer who was injured in the line of duty. We are grateful everyone in attendance was unharmed, including the President, the First Lady, and the Vice President.”
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Jiang continued, “Our dinner exists to celebrate the First Amendment and the hard daily work of the journalists who defend it. Last night, those journalists showed exactly the kind of calm and courage that work demands, jumping into reporting immediately after the incident unfolded. We are proud of everyone in that room. The WHCA board will be meeting to assess what happened and determine how to proceed. We will provide updates as soon as any are available.”
At the beginning of the White House Correspondents’ dinner, a gunman, later identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, reportedly charged through a security checkpoint and into the Washington Hilton ballroom with multiple weapons. After he fired multiple shots, the suspect was subdued by authorities.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed in a press briefing that the suspect will be charged with using a firearm and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, and that there will likely be “many more charges” to come. Trump also shared at a separate news conference at the White House that an officer was shot during the incident but was saved by a bulletproof vest.
Once officers got the scene under control, Jiang took to the stage to address those still in the ballroom, saying that “law enforcement has requested that we leave the premises consistent with protocol.” She noted Trump insisted the event would be rescheduled in the next 30 days.
The WHCA president also added in her post’s caption on Sunday morning, “I know many of you are still processing what happened last night. Thank you to the USSS and all the law enforcement agencies who kept us safe. We are so grateful. To the members of the WHCA, we will get through this together.”
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