NEED TO KNOWUFC CEO Dana White told USA Today that the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting was “f---ing awesome”
White was among the attendees at the April 25 press event where an alleged gunman opened fire and injured a Secret Service agent inside the Washington Hilton hotel
UFC CEO Dana White shared his reaction to the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, describing the incident as “f---ing awesome.”
White, a friend and ally of President Donald Trump, was among the attendees at the annual press event at the Washington Hilton hotel on Saturday, April 25, when an alleged gunman opened fire inside the venue, injuring a Secret Service agent. Following the shooting, White, 56, spoke with USA Today about the intense, chaotic moments that ensued in the ballroom amid the disturbance.
"All of a sudden, it just started getting noisy. Tables started getting flipped over, guys running with guns, and they were screaming, 'Get down!' " he recalled.
"I didn't get down. It was f---ing awesome, and I literally took every minute of it in," White continued while smiling. "It was a pretty crazy, unique experience."
The UFC exec — who was a guest of Paramount Skydance at the dinner — told the outlet that he was sitting "right in front of [the head table] where the president was" at the time. "Nobody got tackled, but guys came in looking for the shooter. I thought the shooter was over by us or something," he recalled.
Trump, 79, was sitting onstage shortly after the start of the dinner when live footage showed Secret Service agents entering the ballroom and quickly escorting the president out of the room. The other prominent figures onstage — including Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump, as well as pregnant press secretary Karoline Leavitt — were also seen on camera being removed from the ballroom.
PEOPLE's reporter inside the dinner said that attendees hid under tables shortly after the disruption occurred.
Shortly after the incident, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "the shooter has been apprehended."
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"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," the president said. "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. 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."
At a subsequent press conference, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and several law enforcement officials said they believe the alleged gunman acted alone. Interim Washington, D.C., police chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was "armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.”
Carroll said the suspect had been staying at the Washington Hilton. “As he ran through that checkpoint, members of law enforcement from the United States Secret Service intercepted that individual," the police chief told reporters, adding that the suspect and law enforcement officers “exchanged gunfire.”
Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation have identified Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., as the armed man who was taken into custody after injuring a Secret Service agent, according to Reuters, The New York Times and CNN.
While appearing on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on Sunday, April 26, acting attorney general Todd Blanche said that officials believe, based on a preliminary investigation, that the suspect "was targeting members of the administration." Blanche said that investigators are still looking into a motive.
White, who is set to promote MMA event UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn on June 14, previously shared that he urged Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential race after he was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., in July 2024.
In a February 2025 interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, White said he called Trump after the rally incident, and he was completely "unfazed."
“Why are you doing this? Stop. Stop,” White recalled telling Trump during the call. “I told him to stop so many times.”
“You have such a good life and you can do so many things,” White said he told Trump, adding of the president, “He believes he believes in God … he’s very religious.”