Good morning. We were there.
More than 50 of us, Wall Street Journal editors, reporters, news associates and our guests were at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
We were set to receive two major awards during the program for our White House coverage. And so we showed up in force.
The ballroom itself is somehow too big and too small. It is known as the largest ballroom in Washington. But this event is so crowded, it’s difficult to even move. There are several hundred tables crunched together, with 10 chairs at each table, and the chairs tightly abutting each other.
So the contingent from the WSJ was spread across multiple tables in different parts of the ballroom, with some closer to the president and others closer to the gunshots on the other side of the oval room.
From my vantage point, the gunshots were distinct but they didn’t make a “bang bang bang” sound. It was more like a loud “thud thud thud.” A waiter near me immediately swiveled his head to the back of the room after the sound. A dropped tray of food?
A few seconds later, the “Get down! Get down!” screams started. In such a tight room, getting down is very hard. But people did.
I peered over the tabletop and could see a large group of agents shield President Trump and move him offstage. From the back of the room, armed agents storm into the ballroom to secure it, grabbing cabinet secretaries and senior lawmakers one by one (the line of succession) to move them.
It was all so eerily quiet.
Some of the reporters at my table were calmly and expertly documenting everything. Olivia Beavers and Alex Leary both had their phones out, capturing the sequence of events as it unfolded. Nearby, reporter Alexander Ward was down on the floor with a distraught waitress, who in Spanish cried to him, “I don’t want to die here. I don’t want to die in this room.” He covered her while trying to console her.
When things settled down, reporters fanned out. Brian Schwartz tracked down Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Reporters were reporting. Editors were coordinating the coverage and filing stories. It was like an emergency room of journalism.
Terell Wright, a WSJ news associate in the D.C. bureau, was returning from the restroom and was quite close to the gunfire. He crawled into the ballroom to take shelter under a table and held a woman’s hand until they knew they were safe.
Two things were happening simultaneously.
WSJ reporters and editors were shielding each other and reassuring each other while also doggedly digging for facts. One of our guests was outside the ballroom and saw the alleged gunman taken down, later recounting the event in harrowing detail.
Over the next hour, the WSJ team was split in two, with half the team essentially trapped in the ballroom and another half stuck in a secure room down a hallway. It was that hallway that FBI Director Kash Patel would come striding through at 9:01 p.m. There was confusion about whether the dinner would actually resume, but later it was finally—formally—canceled.
That wasn’t the end of the night for a large group of WSJ reporters and editors. They left the ballroom and went straight to the newsroom, roughly 1.5 miles away, to continue their work.
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People and Policies I’m Watching
Washington shooter: Follow the Journal’s live coverage as the 31-year-old suspect, alleged to have had a shotgun, handgun and knives on him, is to appear in court.
Middle East war: Follow the Journal’s live coverage with Iran’s foreign minister in Moscow and Trump saying any more peace talks will be conducted by phone: “They can call us.”
Virginia redistricting: The Virginia Supreme Court is to hear oral arguments in a redistricting referendum case at 9 a.m. ET.
Trump’s Monday: The president is to take part in a policy meeting at 1:30 p.m. He and first lady Melania Trump are to greet King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the U.K at 4:15 p.m. He is to participate in another policy meeting at 5:30 p.m.
What I’m Following
King Charles III visits, hoping to keep the U.K and U.S. on good terms. He arrives in Washington on Monday to publicly celebrate 250 years since the U.S. ousted his forebears, and privately ensure that a fraying trans-Atlantic relationship can cope with two-plus more years of Trump. The four-day visit will include a speech to Congress, the first time a British monarch has spoken there since 1991, a private audience with Trump, a state dinner in Washington and trips to New York and Virginia.
It’s decision time for Jerome Powell. With the Justice Department investigation against him apparently over, the Federal Reserve chair must decide whether to leave the Fed when his chairmanship expires next month or stay on as a governor, a position he can hold until January 2028. Fed chairs have almost always left the board when their chairmanship ends.
How was the president exposed to a gunman again? The Washington Hilton is home to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner because of its capacity to host a large crowd and the Secret Service’s familiarity with securing it. On Saturday, guests were able to access the Hilton’s lobby and lower levels without going through security scans, and passed through magnetometers only before they entered the ballroom where the dinner was held. It was easier to get into the dinner than many big sports events and concert venues.
What Else Is Happening
As the White House tries to contain a split with the Make America Healthy Again movement, protests from MAHA moms over pesticides are growing, with a rally planned Monday outside the Supreme Court over glyphosate, sold as Roundup.Geofence warrants, which let investigators obtain cellphone-location data and identify anyone who was near a specific place at a specific time, pose a privacy test at the Supreme Court.Backers of the proposed California billionaire tax believe they have gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot.Ahead of a May 14-15 summit between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing, hundreds of government officials on both sides are racing to make sure the two leaders say the right thing, go to the right place—and don’t get poisoned.
What I’m Reading
The American Way Is Under Fire (The Free Press)Sexual Misconduct Scandals in Washington Spark Scramble for Reforms, Expedited Investigations (Los Angeles Times)Texans Will Decide if Jesus Was a Lefty (The Atlantic)
About Me
I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief. I’ve covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I’ve covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.WSJ Politics brings you an expert guide to what’s driving D.C., every weekday morning. Send your feedback to politics@wsj.com (if you’re reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply). This edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Joe Erwin and Michael Connolly. Got a tip for us? Here’s how to submit.
