Suspected shooter was likely targeting Trump at WHCA dinner

The suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner was likely targeting President Trump and other administration officials on Saturday when he opened fire at the Washington Hilton hotel. “What was supposed to be a fun night at the @WHCA dinner with President Trump delivering jokes and celebrating free speech was hijacked by a depraved crazy person who sought to assassinate the President and kill as many top Trump administration officials as possible,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a Sunday post on the social media platform X. “I was with President Trump and the First Lady back stage after we were quickly ushered to safety by Secret Service. President Trump was truly fearless, but as he said last night, this political violence needs to end,” Leavitt added. After the shots were fired around 8:30 p.m. EDT, Trump was swiftly ushered off the dais at the front of the ballroom to a special presidential suite, which was created to protect the commander in chief after former President Reagan was shot at the same hotel in 1981. CBS News reported Sunday , citing both administration and law enforcement officials, that the suspected gunman wrote a manifesto stating he wanted to target White House officials “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” An administration official confirmed to The Hill that the suspect wrote this manifesto. …