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Leaders from around the world have condemned an act of “political violence” and expressed relief that US president Donald Trump, officials and journalists were unharmed after a shooting incident at the White House correspondents dinner.

Donald and Melania Trump, as well as members of the US cabinet, were evacuated from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday after gunshots could be heard from the hotel lobby.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, whose government had been locked in tense trade talks with the US, said on social platform X: “I am relieved that the President, the First Lady, and all guests are safe following reports of gunfire at the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington tonight.”

“Political violence has no place in any democracy and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event.”

The leader of America’s southern neighbour, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, said it was “good that President Trump and his wife are safe following the recent events”.

“We send them our respect. Violence must never be the way,” Sheinbaum said.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said he was pleased to hear all attendees were safe. “We applaud the work of the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies for their swift action,” he said in a statement.

The British ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner, and some embassy officials were in attendance at the dinner. He said on X that he and others were “grateful for the swift and professional response of the secret service”.

“We are thankful that the president and those in attendance were unharmed & our best wishes are with the injured officer,” Turner said.

Jeffrey Carroll, the DC police chief, said investigators believe the suspect did fire a shot and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. He also said the suspect is believed to have been a guest at the hotel.

Muriel Bowser, the Washington DC mayor, said in a press conference on Saturday night that a sole gunman rushed at the Secret Service in the lobby of the hotel. There is no reason to believe that anyone else was involved in the incident, she said.

The suspect is in custody and being “evaluated” at a local hospital. He was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, the Associated Press is reporting, citing two law enforcement officials.

Donald Trump said on Saturday night he initially thought that the sound of a gunman charging a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was a tray falling, in his first remarks about what was going through his mind as the incident unfolded.

“Actually, it was totally shocking to me, and that never changes,” Trump said, appearing to refer to the assassination attempt against him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a second incident on his golf course in Florida during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“I heard a noise, and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down many times,” he said. “There was a gun and some people really understood that quite quickly. Other people didn’t. I was watching to see what was happening, probably should have gotten down a little faster.

“Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened,” Trump said of his wife, who has been among the members of his family most concerned about security even before Trump faced assassination attempts. “I think she knew immediately. She was saying ‘it’s a bad noise.’”

The US president’s description of his reaction to the episode came at a hastily arranged news conference in the briefing room at the White House, where he had been rushed back by motorcade ahead of a number of other senior cabinet officials who had attended the dinner.

Asked why he thought he keeps being the target of assassination attempts, Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, and said: “The people that make the biggest impact, they’re the ones that they go after. They don’t go after the ones that don’t do much, because they like it that way.”

Still wearing his black tie dinner jacket, Trump was joined at the lectern by the vice-president, JD Vance, the FBI director, Kash Patel, the acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin.

To the side of the room stood his wife, Melania Trump, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Trump’s longtime aide Dan Scavino squeezed into the briefing room behind them.

Trump had emerged into the briefing room with his brow furrowed and appeared to pause at the threshold, as if still contemplating what had transpired at the dinner, before opening his remarks by ticking through updates on the gunman.

“He was a sick person, a very sick person,” Trump said. “He was running full blast, and they got him before he got any further. I was very far away, he wasn’t anywhere close to breaching the doors of the ballroom. My impression is he was a lone wolf wack job.”

He said it was too early to know whether the gunman had political motivations or if he was spurred by the US’s war against Iran, but said the man – pictured shirtless and on the ground in a post Trump sent on social media – was from California and appeared to be working alone.

Trump said the gunman fired on a US Secret Service agent, who was saved by his bulletproof vest. He said he thought law enforcement were going to the gunman’s apartment as he offered general praise for the agency, saying he thought they did a better job than at the Butler rally.

When the incident unfolded, Trump had been seated on the high table inside the ballroom at the Washington DC Hilton hotel, where the dinner has been held for decades, in conversation with his wife and the president of the correspondents’ association, the CBS News journalist Weijia Jiang.

As the sound of gunfire rang out, US Secret Service agents rushed to cover the president’s head and pushed them out of the ballroom. As other agents waded through the banquet tables to extract other cabinet officials, the gunman was apprehended in the lobby area, outside the room.

Trump also suggested that he might not have run for president if Rubio, his 2016 presidential campaign rival who is now his secretary of state and national security adviser, had warned him about the potential of assassination attempts.

“It’s a dangerous profession,” Trump joked. “Nobody told me this was such a dangerous thing. If Marco would have told me, maybe I wouldn’t have run. I’ll take a pass.” Still, he added: “It’s a dangerous profession but I don’t view it that way. I’m here to do a job.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was unharmed and other top White House officials were evacuated from an annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association after a man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby and opened fire.

The shooting suspect was taken into custody and identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. A motive was not immediately known, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night’s attack will be filed shortly.

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