First lady Melania Trump reportedly spoke up when senior officials of her husband President Donald Trump’s administration convened following a shooting at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner to discuss whether the event should be postponed.
“She was advocating within the room for that type of stance,” Marc Beckman, the exclusive senior advisor to Melania, 56, told People in an interview published on Saturday, May 2, adding that the first lady believed “the right thing to do” following the incident was to end the dinner — meant to celebrate freedom of the press — that evening.
Melania’s husband famously said he wanted the White House Correspondents’ dinner to continue after a 31-year-old man armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives stormed a security checkpoint outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” the president wrote via his social media platform Truth Social shortly after the alleged shooter was apprehended. (The California man has been charged with multiple crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president after a so-called manifesto was sent to his family in which he detailed his feelings about the Trump administration.)
“They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement,” Trump’s post continued. “They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
After White House Correspondents’ President Weijia Jiang initially told attendees the “program is going to resume shortly,” she announced that law enforcement “requested that we leave the premises.” The event was canceled and, while speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump claimed it would be rescheduled within 30 days.
Us Weekly has reached out to the White House for comment on Melania’s reported feelings about the dinner after the shooting.
Beckham told People that the first lady was “calm, decisive, and in full control” amidst the chaos and as Secret Service agents got her and her husband off the Correspondents’ Dinner stage. Several high-level Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were also quickly evacuated.
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RFK Jr.’s wife, Cheryl Hines, later recalled the hectic evacuation after she returned home from the dinner.
“I just got back from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Hines said via Instagram at the time. “That was a crazy, um, moment in time. So we were there and we heard shots and everybody got under the tables. Nobody knew what was going on. And then you know, Bobby’s security detail surrounded us and took us. I mean, really, like, had to lift me over chairs because I’m in heels and a gown. And they took us through all of the back ways and we got in the car and left.”
She later added, “So, um, thank you for everyone reaching out, asking if we’re okay, and we are okay, and I thank you for that. Um, I’m in my pajamas now. Watching the news break, just like you guys. Um, but everybody stays [sic] safe.”
