A MAN armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by US President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet on Saturday night.

The attacker was taken into custody after charging past security barricades towards the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as guests dived under tables at the sound of shots being fired.

The president was uninjured and was rushed off the stage. The armed man, who officials said was a guest at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was being held, is expected in court tomorrow.

Police believe he opened fire and acted alone, but officers did not say who was his intended target or describe a motive.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” Mr Trump, uninjured and still in his tuxedo, said at the White House two hours later.

The shooting took place just outside the vast subterranean ballroom holding thousands of guests at the dinner minutes after it began, disrupting an annual event meant to honour journalism that was being attended by Mr Trump for the first time since he became president.

Vice-President JD Vance was removed from the room first, while agents initially covered Mr Trump in place before escorting him and his wife Melania Trump from the room.

He was held for some time in a secure presidential suite at the hotel as Mr Trump and organisers initially sought to resume the event, before he was returned to the White House on the advice of the Secret Service.

One officer was shot in his bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said.

There were immediate questions about security precautions at an event attended each year by senior government officials.

The gunman was tackled to the ground and, though not injured, was being evaluated in hospital, police said. He was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to law enforcement officials. He is facing two firearm-related charges, including a count of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.

It was the third time since 2024 that the president had been under immediate threat from an attacker — including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured him and killed a local firefighter.