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Panicked JD Vance’s words during Washington shooting revealed by lip-reader | News US
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A lipreader has revealed how Vice President JD Vance reacted as an apparent would-be assassin stormed a dinner event in Washington DC.
Gunshots rang out at the hotel where the formal White House Correspondents’ Dinner where Donald Trump was preparing to address top US journalists on Saturday evening.
Dramatic footage from the scene shows personnel rushing on stage to pullTrump, his wife, Melania, and several other top administration officials.
Secret Service members clutched onto the Vice President and yanked him out of his seat as the chaos unfolded.
Forensic lipreader Nicola Hickling revealed that a bodyguard apparently went up to Vance shouting: ‘Run, f***ing run.’
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The Vice President responded ‘What’s happening? I’m going’ before he left the stage in a hurry.
Officials said the attacker was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives when he charged at a security checkpoint by the ballroom.
Trump later posted pictures of the suspect in the shooting lying face down on the carpeted floor, topless.
US outlets identified him as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California.
Another guest seen escorted away from the scene was Erika Kirk, wife of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on a college campus in September.
Erika could be seen in tears leaving the venue, saying to a bodyguard: ‘I just wanna go home’.
Timeline of Trump assassination attempts and major security threats
June 18, 2016: Assassination attempt at Las Vegas rally
While Trump was giving a presidential campaign speech at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, a British man, Michael Steven Sandford, attempted to grab a Las Vegas police officer’s pistol.
September 6, 2017: Forklift attack, North Dakota
On September 6, 2017, in North Dakota, Gregory Lee Leingang stole a forklift and attempted to drive it toward the presidential motorcade while Trump was visiting.
September 20, 2020: Ricin poisoning attempt
On September 20, 2020, Pascale Cécile Véronique Ferrier was arrested in Buffalo, New York, after a ricin-laced letter was intercepted, intended for Trump.
July 12, 2024: Murder-for-hire plot
A Pakistani national, Asif Merchant, was arrested and later convicted of running a murder-for-hire plot on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to kill Trump.
July 13, 2024: Assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania
On July 13, 2024, shooter Thomas Crooks fired eight shots from an AR-15–style rifle at Trump while speaking at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear before dropping to the ground and being shielded by the Secret Service.
Crooks also killed one member of the audience, Corey Comperatore, and critically injured two others, before being shot and killed by a member of the Secret Service.
September 15, 2025: Assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida
On September 15, 2024, Ryan Routh was sighted with a rifle at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was golfing at the club.
Routh was arrested after fleeing the scene and was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.
February 22, 2026: Mar-a-Lago intruder
An armed intruder was shot dead on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in February.
Austin Tucker Martin was named as the gunman killed by the Secret Service at the president’s Florida retreat.
April 25, 2026: White House Correspondents’ dinner
Gunshots rang out at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the formal White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place on Saturday April 25, withTrump and Melania being rushed off stage.
The suspect, Coel Tomas Allen, was arrested on the scene.
Donald Trump also revealed what his wife told him after bullets were fired in the Washington Hilton Hotel.
At a press conference in the West Wing after the shooting, Trump said: ‘It’s always shocking when something like this happens.
‘The fact that we were sitting next to each other, the first lady on my right, and I heard a noise,’ Trump said, adding they thought ‘it was either a tray or a bullet.
‘I heard a noise and kinda thought it was a tray going down.’
He said Melania instantly recognised the sound as a ‘bad noise,’ adding that ‘it was a rather traumatic experience for her.’
‘Melania was very cognizant,’ he continued.
Within seconds of the shots, the President, First Lady, and Vice President ducked for cover under their table on stage at the front of the room.
Secret Service agents then escorted them off the stage and combed through the banquet hall to secure top Cabinet figures.
An officer was shot during the exchange, Trump confirmed.
‘One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing an – obviously – a very good bulletproof vest. He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job.’
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