Policyband

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy on White House Press Dinner Shooting: 'I Heard Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud'

Conservative media leader and Trump confidant tells Policyband what it was like being inside the Washington Hilton ballroom when the shots rang out Saturday night

Ted Hearn

Apr 27, 2026 — 11 min read

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Shooting: “Thud, thud, thud, thud” cut through the ballroom just as the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner began, Newsmax Chief Executive Officer Chris Ruddy said, describing a brief but unsettling scare inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.

Ruddy recounted the incident in an interview Sunday with Policyband. He was seated with British Ambassador Sir Christian Turner, his wife Lady Turner, the Rev. Franklin Graham, Trump insiders Alina Habba and Kari Lake, and Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren and her husband John Coale, when the noise erupted.

“The dinner was just starting. Everybody was working their salad and just finishing that and I heard thud, thud, thud, thud,” he said. (More after paywall)