A psychiatrist Oz Pearlman he was playing for the President Donald Trumpfirst wife Melania Trump and press secretary Caroline Leavitt It was at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, April 24, that he realized something was wrong.
“At that time I was playing for the president, the press secretary and the first lady,” the magician said Sunday, April 26, on CNN's. State of the Union. “It [was] kind of a critical moment in the trick where you're about to reveal … and we feel the chaos.”
The genius initially thought someone inside the ballroom was experiencing a medical emergency, until the tense situation became apparent.
“I see everyone at one table,” Pearlman continued. “I didn't hear a gunshot or see anything like a shooter, I thought there was going to be a bomb, I thought a lot, 'Oh my god, it's going to explode,' because of the way it was approaching.”
Just after the annual event meant to celebrate the First Amendment began on Saturday, a gunman tried to charge the stadium. The 31-year-old gunman, who was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and several knives, was caught before he could enter. The Secret Service Agent was shot, but his ballistic vest protected him and he was later released from the hospital.
No one else was injured during the incident.
Guests take cover during a photo shoot for the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner
Getty ImagesThe president, first lady and members of the Trump administration were all quickly evacuated from the building. The remaining event has been cancelled.
“It was an amazing thing,” said Pearlman on Sunday when the Secret Service confronted the president in an attempt to get him out of the compound. “I got down on all fours to the left, stage left. They ran over to get the POTUS and the president was brought down by the Secret Service – and we don't know what was going on – and then he came down.”
He added, “You can watch the video — I don't know the distance, but it's less than passing me — I'll never forget the image for the rest of my life because I'm walking on all fours, I turn like this, they lower the president right in front of me and we look at each other for about two seconds.”
At the time, Pearlman told CNN that she thought her life was about to end.
“And my mind — obviously this is a lot of adrenaline — was just like, 'Hey, are we going to die?' Because I thought it was going to explode,” said Pearlman. “I thought… that was really my instinct.”
The singer continued, “Then I heard what sounded like a gunshot, at that moment my mind changed. [Trump] he's injured – pick him up, get out and we'll walk on all fours.”
At that time, Pearlman said “the army crawled” off the stage because he was afraid that if he stood up he would be shot.
“We didn't want to stand up because I didn't want to be beaten,” he explained.
On Sunday, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told multiple news outlets that the ongoing investigation has already revealed that the shooter – an engineer and part-time teacher – was targeting Trump and senior Trump administration officials.
While speaking to Fox News, the president himself elaborated on the allegations made by the alleged shooter.
Erika Kirk was present as the shots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. CNN reported that Kirk, 37, was seen crying as the chaos continued at the Washington Hilton in Washington DC on Saturday, April 25. CNN's Sara Sidner said on the air that she personally saw Kirk leaving the ballroom, telling his assistants. […]
“If you read his manifesto, he hates Christians, that's one thing,” the president said Sunday, going on to call the suspect “a sick person.” (Us Weekly has not independently reviewed the manifesto that allegedly backs up the president's claims.)
White House sources told multiple media outlets, including NPR, NBC News and CNN, that Allen's sister interviewed Secret Service agents and members of the Montgomery County, Maryland, police, saying that her brother “had a habit of making strong statements and his speech always referred to a plan to do 'something' to fix the problems of today's world.”
