How Did Shooter Get So Close to White House Correspondents’ Dinner?

To enter a pre-party at the venue, guests did not have to present identification or submit to security screenings. “Only once it was time to get into the main ballroom for the dinner did we pass through magnetometers, empty our pockets, and get a pat down. And even that checkpoint was just outside of the dinner room,” Melugin wrote on X Sunday. The security checkpoint was set up only a staircase away from the ballroom entrance to avoid interfering with the hotel’s other guests. Staffers at the security checkpoint weren’t paying as close attention after the dinner began, because they were not expecting additional arrivals, a current Secret Service agent told MS NOW.Second, many of the security officials who spoke with MS NOW also voiced concerns over the apparently chaotic evacuation efforts. Why was Vice President JD Vance escorted off the stage before President Donald Trump? A Secret Service official told MS NOW that Trump’s security team believed the ballroom was safe, and took a moment to ensure an underground walkway was secure before escorting the president there. Trump admitted later that he’d intentionally slowed down his own departure. He was also seen tripping on the way out. WTOP News documented a staggered departure for other administration officials. Minutes after Trump fled, a security team swarmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s table. Shortly after, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche were escorted out of the room. Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel waited for several minutes before being evacuated. And finally, it seems that in general, security officials questioned whether the Washington Hilton was a suitable venue for an event hosting the president of the United States and multiple Cabinet members. “Hotel guests could still come and go, no checking credentials nor physical screening outside of area, just the [magnetometers] near the ballroom,” one former Secret Service official told MS NOW. “Considering the VP and Cabinet members were there, there should have been more security.”One former presidential detail leader told MS NOW: “I hate that venue. Too much working against you.”