The setting was the same as it’s always been: the elegant ballroom in the basement of the Washington Hilton. There, the president, vice president and other high-ranking officials gathered with around 2500 guests to celebrate freedom of speech. But instead of being a light-hearted gala as it had been in the past, fear and pandemonium soon reigned. The White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday marked the third time since the summer of 2024 that a gunman was able to get dangerously close to now-president Donald Trump. Was security to blame? And what were the gunman’s motives? USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page joins The Excerpt to share her personal experience and insights.
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Episode transcript available here.
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