The journalist sitting next to Mr. Trump told the story of the moment he heard the gun go off

For Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents Association, the party for White House reporters on the evening of April 25 started smoothly according to the script. During the previous eight months, she put all her energy into the party, hoping it would help restore relations with President Donald Trump’s administration and the press.

More than 2,500 journalists and guests attended the event at the Washington Hilton Hotel, from executives, celebrities, ambassadors to cabinet members such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and many others.

The most important guest is Mr. Trump, who has boycotted the annual party for White House reporters for the past 15 years. This is the first time he appeared at the event as US President.

Sitting next to the President at the honorary table on stage, this Chinese-born journalist happily chatted with Mr. Trump. She said that Mr. Trump’s mood at that time seemed very good. People sitting around chatted about the last time Mr. Trump attended a reception for White House reporters during President Barack Obama’s term.

“You know, everyone thinks I’m annoyed by Mr. Obama’s jokes. But actually I’m not,” Jiang recalled Mr. Trump telling her, at the time psychologist Oz Pearlman, who Jiang invited to the party, came to greet the President.

Pearlman performed a small magic show with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and wanted the President and Jiang to witness. Leavitt is expected to give birth in the next few days and Pearlman claims to be able to guess the baby’s name.

“There’s no way he could do it. Very few people know that name. It’s impossible,” Leavitt told Jiang.

Everyone watched Pearlman’s performance. First lady Melania Trump, sitting to Leavitt’s left, appeared very excited. After Pearlman showed First Lady Melania and Leavitt a piece of paper with a name written on it, the White House Press Secretary’s surprised and amused expression was the last image that remained in Jiang’s mind before everything became chaos.

“At that moment, we heard a commotion. I looked down at the auditorium and thought maybe someone was booing and causing trouble. But I didn’t see anyone like that,” Jiang said.

That was when Cole Tomas Allen, 31 years old, from Torrance city in California, exchanged gunfire with secret agents in the area outside the banquet room, a few hundred meters from Jiang and Mr. Trump’s table. Allen, carrying a shotgun, a handgun and many knives, rushed through the first security checkpoint before being stopped and controlled by the US secret service.

President Trump said that he initially thought the gunshots outside were “the sound of a tray falling.” Before Jiang could understand what was happening, armed agents rushed towards the honor table. They ran onto the stage from all directions, quickly setting up a protective perimeter around the main row of tables. Jiang at the same time heard loud shouts of “lie down, everyone lie down”.

“I immediately left my chair and followed Mr. Trump when I saw the President lying on the floor. I also knelt down, then crawled on my hands and knees,” she said. “We were taken to the area behind the stage.”

Jiang went to the waiting area, where the program’s producers were watching live videos of the situation inside the banquet room. In addition to her colleagues, inside the room were her parents, husband and 7-year-old daughter.

“I tremblingly scanned the screens to find them. I asked anyone who could hear: What’s going on? What’s going on? Is anyone hurt?”, she said. “In my career, I have covered many shootings and murders. But this is the first time I have found myself on the other side of the gun. No one can mentally prepare for this.”

Unconfirmed news and social media posts at the time said there was a shooter, but the only information Jiang received was that the President wanted the show to continue. Moments later, Jiang returned to the stage to reassure the guests. Soon after, an advance officer announced that the President wanted to see her.

When they saw Jiang, everyone asked her how she was doing. Jiang then vaguely heard someone say “we’re going to the White House”. Although initially hesitant, the President eventually agreed to hold an emergency press conference at the White House 30 minutes later.

“I announced this to the whole audience. Everyone laughed because they thought it was a joke. I have to confirm that it was not a joke,” she said, before going with the President’s motorcade to the White House.

President Trump asserted that he will hold this dinner again within the next 30 days. “Let’s wait and see. As for Leavitt’s daughter’s name, I’ve seen it already. But I haven’t had a chance to confirm it yet,” Jiang said.

Before committing the crime, suspect Allen sent an email to relatives, claiming his targets were “government officials, prioritized by rank from high to low”. In the letter, Allen said law enforcement, hotel staff and guests were not directly targeted, but could still be attacked if necessary to reach those he was targeting.