Melania Trump Allegedly Advocated for WHCD Delay Following Shooting Incident
First lady Melania Trump reportedly voiced her concerns when senior officials of her husband, President Donald Trump, gathered after a shooting incident during this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner to deliberate on whether the event should be postponed.
“She was advocating within the room for that type of stance,” Marc Beckman, Melania’s exclusive senior advisor, told People in an interview published on Saturday, May 2. He added that the first lady felt it was “the right thing to do” to cancel the dinner — an event intended to honor the freedom of the press — that evening.
Melania’s husband publicly stated his desire for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to proceed after a 31-year-old man, armed with a shotgun, handgun, and multiple 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 remarked on his social media platform, Truth Social, shortly after the alleged shooter was apprehended. (The California man faces several charges, including attempting to assassinate the president after sending a manifesto to his family detailing 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 informed attendees that “the program is going to resume shortly,” she later announced that law enforcement “requested that we leave the premises.” The event was subsequently canceled, and while addressing reporters at the White House, Trump claimed it would be rescheduled within 30 days.
Us Weekly reached out to the White House for remarks regarding Melania’s alleged feelings about the dinner following the shooting.
Beckman expressed to People that the first lady was “calm, decisive, and in full control” during the chaos as Secret Service agents escorted her and her husband off the Correspondents’ Dinner stage. Several high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., were also swiftly evacuated.
RFK Jr.’s wife, Cheryl Hines, later recounted the frantic evacuation after returning home from the dinner.
“I just got back from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Hines shared via Instagram. “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. Then, Bobby’s security detail surrounded us and took us. I mean, really, they had to lift me over chairs because I’m in heels and a gown. They escorted us through all of the back ways, and we got in the car and left.”
She added later, “So, um, thank you to everyone reaching out, asking if we’re okay. We are, indeed, okay, and I appreciate that. Um, I’m in my pajamas now, watching the news break, just like you guys. Um, but everyone stay [sic] safe.”
