Donald Trump told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell on 60 Minutes why he was evacuated from the WHCD after JD Vance. Several videos from the incident went viral, showing Secret Service agents grabbing and pulling Vance from his seat to take him to safety.
Many noted that the vice president was evacuated before the president. One clip circulating on social media included audio: “Why did they pull JD out before Trump?”
Trump explained, “You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him, bringing him out. Then the counter assault comes in.”
JD Vance first evacuated by SS maybe 10 seconfs before Trump.
Only one squad protection was assigned to operate in critical situation when it needs 2 teams to evacuate both in same time.. There’s a gap here…? https://t.co/3KQxu0IYP7
— The Speaker 🇺🇲 (@JGlasseir) April 26, 2026
O’Donnell asked, “Took ten seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point, you were down. What was happening?”
He added, “Well, what happened is, it was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, a different kind of problem, a bad one.”
He continued, “And different from what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time. And I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me see, wait a minute.’”
More than 2,500 people were present at the Washington Hilton Hotel when gunshots caused chaos during the dinner. A gunman with several weapons, including knives, handguns and shotguns, breached a security checkpoint.
Shots fired and JD Vance was moved out before Trump.🚨
That doesn’t look normal.
Why was he taken first?
Was he in more danger, or did they react to something the public didn’t see?
In moments like this, order matters. pic.twitter.com/dHL9xM7n4x
— Zia ul Haque (@ImZiaulHaque) April 26, 2026
After a brief delay, both Trump and the first lady were covered by the agents. Trump described his and Melania Trump’s evacuation, “Then, I started walking with them. I turned, and I started walking. And they said, ‘Please go down. Please go down on the floor.’ So I went down, and the first lady went down, also. But we were asked to go down by the agents as I was walking.”
During a White House press briefing, Trump was asked about the constant attacks on him, and his answer included a reference to Lincoln. He used the moment to talk about his influential presidency and was “honored.” Many officials and reporters took cover under tables until the situation was under control.
The shooter, identified as a California man, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, has been charged with using a firearm and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon. According to DBS News, Allen wrote a manifesto explaining his attack on the administration officials. He shot at a Secret Service officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest.
