Saturday evening I attended my eighth White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel. This is one of the best dinners in DC to bump – to see and be seen. Every time I enter this hotel I remember that this was the same Hilton where Ronald Reagan was shot and almost killed 45 years ago. I walked through the same entrance where the killer’s bullet came within inches of killing Reagan.
I expected a very long security line and about an hour wait to get into the hotel. I brought my paper ticket and my passport identification.
To my surprise, security was lax to say the least. I wore my tuxedo and walked in the front door showing the paper ticket. No code had to be scanned and I was never asked for my ID. I could have given that card to everyone or xeroxed multiple copies for friends who wanted to attend the pre-event parties. That was strange, to say the least.
The pre-parties hosted by Fox, CNN and Wall Street Journal, with ladies dressed in beautiful dresses, lasted about an hour, and then we were led to the 2,500-seat ballroom for dinner. We entered through an airport-style scanner, but never asked for ID.
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The room was packed and at 7 p.m. President Trump entered to superficial applause – after all, these were mainly journalists who were unfriendly to Trump. What shocked me was that after the national anthem and the military color guard, Trump and the first lady sat front and center in front of 2,500 people for dinner. That didn’t seem safe or advisable to me. For a sniper, God forbid, it looked like he was a sitting duck.
I also noticed that the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, were all there. I was told that five of the six in succession to the presidency were present for this crazy party. That didn’t seem wise to me either.
About fifteen minutes after dinner, I was sitting at my table chatting with the Wall Street Journal reporters when all hell broke loose. The Secret Service suddenly burst in with pistols and machine guns, and suddenly I heard two loud bangs, like a bomb going off. There was a shout and we all dived down and many climbed under their tables.
I looked at the president and he was surrounded by the Secret Service. They pulled him out of his chair and pushed him towards the exit. My heart sank and I panicked as I saw Trump appear to stumble to the ground. You can see that in the video. Oh my God, I gasped in shock. Trump is affected.
Please NO! I was desperately worried.
None of us knew what was going on.
The Secret Service agents stood on the tables. I was sitting at the table next to Speaker Johnson and was just talking to him. The Secret Service started shouting, “Where’s the speaker?” His seatmates had apparently pulled him under the table. He was led outside.
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For about five minutes it was a frightening environment, although people remained mostly calm. I was impressed by the reporters at our table who were immediately filing stories and taking cell phone photos of the pandemonium, even though the security of the situation was still unresolved.
The Secret Service was phenomenal in their immediate response. I was heartbroken that Trump might have been hit by a bullet again.
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Everyone stood in mostly stunned silence as we were told about a lone gunman who had been shot and one officer shot.
We didn’t get word that Trump was unharmed until about twenty minutes later.
This was clearly a major security crisis on multiple levels. It was easier to go into the Hilton to see the president and get within thirty feet of him than it was to attend a sporting event at a Wizards basketball game down the street.
Anyone with a photocopy of the ticket could have entered. No one ever inspected my ticket to make sure it was authentic. I saw a person in line come in with a ticket and their date didn’t have one, but they waved her in.
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Given the heightened threat to the president lately and the other high-ranking government officials in the room, none of this made sense.
It is clear that these protocols need to be adjusted.
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