Trump Explains His Thoughts After the Shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

It was 10:31 p.m. Saturday when President Trump entered the briefing room at the White House, still wearing his tuxedo and tie, to talk about what could be another attempt on his life.

“Well, thank you very much,” she said. “It was a lot unexpected!”

Moments before he left, the president posted surveillance photos of the suspect running through the cavernous halls of the Washington Hilton. It was where Mr Trump had been attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when shots were fired at the hotel. Very little was clear about anything that happened there, a mile and a half up the mountain.

But the president wanted to talk about it.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens,” he said, standing with the first lady, the vice president, the defense secretary, the secretary of state, the acting attorney general, the FBI director and the press secretary — all still in their evening gowns from the dinner.

But, really, he argued, the whole thing was just the latest example of why he needs to build his own high-security, legally challenged White House room.

“I didn’t want to say this,” he said, “but that’s why we have to have all the qualities of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a bigger room, and it’s more secure. It has — it’s drone-proof, bulletproof glass.”

And then he gave the first question of the night to Weijia Jiang, a CBS News reporter and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who was sitting next to him at the dinner before the pandemonium erupted.

“Madam chair,” he said, “I just want to say you did a great job. (Mr. Trump rarely speaks this way to reporters covering him.)

He asked her what it was like in her mind when she realized that her life might be in danger again. He told this tale: He was sitting with the first lady on the other side of him when he heard a sound that he thought was familiar and not alarming. “I thought it was a falling tray,” she said. “I’ve heard that many times, and it’s very loud, and it’s very far away.”

His wife wasn’t so sure, he said.

“Melania was very aware of what happened,” he explained. “I think he knew right away what happened, he was saying, ‘That’s a bad sound.'” He looked focused behind him in the interview room. The only word he uttered during the press conference was “No,” after being asked if he would like to say anything. The president said “it was a painful experience for him.”

He described the “expulsion,” thanked the law enforcement officers and said “there wasn’t much time to think, because it was a matter of seconds before we walked out the door.”

Overall, Mr. Trump’s exit from the arena on Saturday evening was from a man who survived two assassination attempts, and his wife simply ducked under a table while gun lobbyists rushed the stage around them.

Who knows how the president’s attitude, his speech, his political feelings or security apparatus may change in the coming days or weeks. Very little was revealed at the press conference about the suspect’s motives.

However, Mr. Trump has consistently played down any suggestion that the latest scare will change the way he lives.

“I like not to think about it,” he said. “I live a normal life, if you think about it, you know, a dangerous life.

He added: “To be honest with you, I’m not a basket case.”

For a week he had been mocking the media in this room, but now he was praising the journalists in front of him, praising their attire, speaking softly and thanking them for their work.

“You had a lot of responsibility in putting it together,” he said. “I will say that I have been seeing what has come out.

This was definitely not the message he planned to convey to the media tonight. He said he was going to make what he called “the most inappropriate speech ever,” and sounded disappointed that he was denied that opportunity. In fact, he was so disappointed that he vowed to postpone the dinner for another 30 days.

But then, he’ll need to write again – or at least that’s what he’s said for now.

“I don’t know if I can be as tough as I was going to be tonight,” he said. “I think I will be very good. I will be bored next time, but we will have a great event.”