President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election, and Saturday night he was whisked away again from another lethal threat when a heavily armed gunman briefly breached a security checkpoint at one of Washington’s most famous black-tie galas and exchanged gunfire before being subdued by the Secret Service.

But Trump would not recoil.

First he wanted to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner before it was canceled, hoping to send a signal to a nation gripped by political vitriol and shaken by recent assassinations — from Charlie Kirk to Minnesota legislators – that “sick people” cannot “change the fabric” of the United States.

Then he quickly posted on social media a photo of the gunman – a 31-year-old from California armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. The image showed him handcuffed and stripped to his waist after his attack was foiled. There was no accident in the message: a failed shooter laid prostate, face-down and now harmless on the ground.

“This thug that attacked our Constitution, they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too” Trump said. “My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. … These are crazy people, and they have to be dealt with.”

Prosecutors within hours had already charged the man with multiple federal felonies as they tore through every aspect of his life, trying to figure how he got from Torrance, Calif., to the nation’s capital and booked a room at the glitzy hotel and what motivated him.

Being president “is a very dangerous profession. … I can’t imagine that there is any profession that is more dangerous,” a matter-of-fact Trump told reporters at an extraordinary White House news conference where he and reporters were still clad in their tuxedos and gowns from the interrupted gala.

Having cheated death more than once, Trump wants America to know he is unbowed and that the best way to react to harrowing political violence is to repudiate it, punish it and then stay the course.

“I want to live because I want to make this country great,” the president said at one point, brushing away a question about personal safety.

At another point, he added: “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.”

The incident left a Secret Service officer injured, shot at point-blank range with a bullet that remarkably embedded in his protective vest. And it left journalists normally antagonistic to the president thankful that everyone left the abbreviated gala alive.

The venue for Saturday night’s incident is no stranger to political violence. The Washington Hilton was the same sprawling hotel where four-plus decades earlier Ronald Reagan was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.

History aside, Trump cast away multiple questions about his own mortality in the moments after rifle-toting Secret Service agents whisked him from the stage along with first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and many other Cabinet luminaries.

“I like not to think about it,” Trump said when asked how assassination attacks impact him. He added: “I think I handle it about as well as it can be handled. … I do it for the country.”

The president implored the country to respond to the event with a clear message: “I ask that all Americans commit with their hearts to resolving our differences peacefully,” he said.

Trump expressed gratitude for the law enforcement response, marveling that the gunman was taken down in a few short seconds after he ran through the magnetometer about 50 yards and one floor above the ballroom. He also was thankful the wounded officer would be OK.

“He was wearing a very good bullet-proof vest,” Trump said, adding that “I just spoke with the officer and he is doing great … We told him that we love him and respect him.”

Trump said that the Washington Hilton where the night’s event was being held was “not a particularly secure building” and said threats like this were part of why the White House needed the new ballroom that he is constructing.

“We need the ballroom — that’s why the military and the Secret Service are demanding it,” the president said.

The ballroom was filled with nearly every major figure in the Trump administration, including Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Also present was Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk.

In the days that follow, every frame of the video footage showing the gunman dashing past the checkpoint will be analyzed. So too, every second of the evacuation from the ballroom will be examined for lessons. And the gunman’s life will be turned upside down for any clue about motive.

“We will be examining this individual’s background thoroughly,” Patel said late Saturday night. “That process has already started … . We will analyze all evidence immediately to make sure that we safeguard this country.”

The shooting suspect was identified by multiple news organizations, including The Associated Press, as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the gunman would be charged with multiple federal felonies, including two charges related to using a firearm and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon. She added there will be many more charges filed “based on the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation.”

Attendees reported loud bangs outside the ballroom that sounded like gunfire just seconds before Trump and other top officials were whisked away. 

Secret Service agents removed Trump quickly from the head table while other security agents rushed to remove other top officials. Officials could be heard yelling “stay down” as the president was secreted away and Secret Service officers in tactical gear and carrying rifles appeared on stage.

The gunman was held and was not wounded. 

Video footage showed House Speaker Mike Johnson rushing with his security detail out of the hotel.

The episode interrupted Trump’s first ever attendance at the journalism dinner as chief executive.

Longtime CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was at the checkpoint when the gunfire broke out, saying he saw the gunman and heard several loud shots before an officer jumped on top of him to protect him.