White House Correspondents’ Dinner Host Calls Shooting Incident ‘Incredibly Surreal’

On Apr 27, 2026

Mentalist and White House Correspondents’ Dinner host Oz Pearlman gave a firsthand account of what he saw during an attack on the event, telling CNN’s Dana Bash he first thought the chaos was caused by someone having a “medical emergency” before realizing the situation was much more serious.

Calling the experience “incredibly surreal” during Sunday’s episode of “State of the Union,” Pearlman recalled being at a “pivotal moment” of a trick trying to guess White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s baby’s name for her, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump when he heard a commotion.

“It wasn’t gunshots. I wasn’t sure if it was a tray,” he explained. “We’re also higher than everyone, so we have a very good vantage point versus the thousands of people in the room.”

pic.twitter.com/G3VJF2O7Hj

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) April 26, 2026

","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"State of the Union","author_url":"https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU","cache_age":86400,"description":"Pearlman on face-to-face moment with President Trump on ballroom floor: "They bring the president down directly in front of me. And we just look at each other for about two seconds." pic.twitter.com/G3VJF2O7Hj— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) April 26, 2026nnn","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2048456775121375233/img/LJ78oqOqPY1psH-5.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"State of the Union on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/2048457306040406290","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isMobile":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"69ee520ee4b0d1d8ce94cd1c","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oz-pearlman-details-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting_n_69ee520ee4b0d1d8ce94cd1c","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,white-house-correspondents-dinner,oz-pearlman,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/6a0f42ed-f2ef-4871-a1b2-b998534a9fe9/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":4},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"69ee520ee4b0d1d8ce94cd1c","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"White House Correspondents Dinner","slug":"white-house-correspondents-dinner","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/white-house-correspondents-dinner","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/white-house-correspondents-dinner","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/white-house-correspondents-dinner"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"White House Correspondents Dinner","slug":"white-house-correspondents-dinner","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/white-house-correspondents-dinner"},{"name":"oz pearlman","slug":"oz-pearlman","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/oz-pearlman","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/oz-pearlman","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/oz-pearlman"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/oz-pearlman"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"signInUrl":"https://login.huffpost.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Foz-pearlman-details-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting_n_69ee520ee4b0d1d8ce94cd1c%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1","cetUnit":"buzz_body","enableIncontentPlayer":false,"bodyAds":["

rnrn","

rnrn"],"adCount":0,"midArticleAdPartner":null},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

Pearlman on face-to-face moment with President Trump on ballroom floor: “They bring the president down directly in front of me. And we just look at each other for about two seconds.” pic.twitter.com/G3VJF2O7Hj

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) April 26, 2026

“I see everyone swarming one table. And I’m looking and trying to understand, and then you see people getting down …,” Pearlman went on. “I didn’t hear any shots or see what looked like a shooter. I thought there was about to be a bomb.”

The performer added, “Like I really very much thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s about to explode,’ because of the way that it was being approached wasn’t like guns out. It was like to stop someone.”

First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump, here at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, were near host Oz Pearlman during the incident. — First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump, here at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, were near host Oz Pearlman during the incident.

Pearlman said he dropped to the ground to hide under a table where Trump was “less than a foot away from him.” The duo made eye contact as he remembered thinking, “Oh no, are we about to die?”

The suspected shooter was apprehended by law enforcement after firing off several shots outside of the ballroom where the event was taking place at the Washington Hilton.

White House officials say they have obtained writings from the suspect, who is reportedly a 31-year-old man from California, in which he “clearly stated he wanted to target administration officials.”