Mentalist Oz Pearlman was performing for President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and press secretary Karoline Leavitt on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 24, when he realized something was very improper.
“I used to be performing right then for the president, the press secretary and the primary lady,” the magician said during a Sunday, April 26, appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “It [was] form of a pivotal moment within the trick where you’re nearly to do the reveal … and we hear commotion.”
The mentalist initially thought someone contained in the ballroom was experiencing a medical emergency, until the gravity of the situation became palpable.
“I see everyone swarming one table,” Pearlman continued. “I didn’t hear any shots or see what looked like a shooter. I assumed there was about to be a bomb. I actually, very much thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s about to blow up,’ due to the best way it was being approached.”
Shortly after the annual event meant to have a good time the primary amendment began on Saturday, a gunman attempted to charge the ballroom. The 31-year-old shooter, armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives, was apprehended before he could enter. One Secret Service Agent was shot, but his ballistic vest protected him and he was later released from the hospital.
Nobody else was harmed throughout the incident.
Guests take cover throughout the shooting on the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner Getty Images
The president, first lady and members of the Trump administration were all quickly evacuated from the constructing. The remaining of the event was canceled.
“It was incredibly surreal,” Pearlman said on Sunday of the moment Secret Service agents tackled the president in an try and remove him from the premises. “I form of get down on all fours facing left, stage left. They rush across to get POTUS and the president gets taken down by Secret Service — and we don’t know what’s happening — and he got here down.”
He added, “You possibly can have a look at the video — I don’t know the gap, but lower than afoot from me — I’ll always remember the image for my whole life because I’m on all fours, turn like this, they carry the president down directly in front of me and we just have a look at one another for about two seconds.”
At that moment, Pearlman told CNN he thought his life was going to come back to an end.
“And my mind — obviously it is a huge adrenaline — was similar to, ‘Oh no, are we about to die?’ Because I assumed it was about to blow up,” Pearlman said. “I assumed… that actually was my instinct.”
The performer continued, “Then I heard what seemed like I assumed were shots and at that time my mind shifted. I also wasn’t sure if [Trump] was hurt — they pick him up, form of, they usually exit after which we’re on all fours.”
At that time, Pearlman said he “army crawled” off the stage for fear that if he stood up he could be shot.
“We didn’t wish to get up because I didn’t wish to get hit,” he explained.
On Sunday, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told multiple media outlets that the continuing investigation has already revealed that the shooter — an engineer and part-time teacher — was targeting Trump and top Trump administration officials.
While talking to Fox News, the president himself detailed an alleged manifesto written by the suspected shooter.
Erika Kirk was in attendance as shots broke out on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. CNN reported that Kirk, 37, was seen crying because the chaos unfolded on the Washington Hilton in Washington D.C. on Saturday, April 25. CNN’s Sara Sidner said on air that she personally witnessed Kirk leaving the predominant ballroom, telling aides, […]
“Whenever you read his manifesto, he hates Christians, that’s one thing of course,” the president claimed on Sunday, happening to call the suspect a “sick guy.” (Us Weekly has not independently viewed the alleged manifesto to corroborate the president’s claims.)
White House sources told multiple media outlets, including NPR, NBC News and CNN, that Allen’s sister had been interviewed by Secret Service agents and members of the Montgomery County, Maryland, police, claiming her brother “had an inclination to make radical statements and his rhetoric continually referenced a plan to do ‘something’ to repair the problems with today’s world.”