Following a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on April 25, 2026, posts circulated on social media claiming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there would be "shots fired" before the incident occurred, with some commenters suggesting her remarks were evidence the shooting was staged.
The shooting suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was reportedly armed with multiple weapons when he stormed the lobby outside the dinner that U.S. President Donald Trump and other members of his administration attended.
According to one Facebook post (archived) sharing the claim about Leavitt, she said there would be "some shots fired tonight in the room" hours before reports of actual gunfire at the correspondents' dinner venue, "likely referring to jokes expected during Donald Trump's planned speech."
Posts that circulated elsewhere, including X and Instagram (archived, archived), included a video clip that appears to show Leavitt making the comment during a Fox News interview.
Snopes readers searched our website and emailed us to verify whether Leavitt actually said there would be "shots fired" ahead of the correspondents' dinner.
In short, Leavitt truly said these words while speaking to comedian and Fox News host Jimmy Failla on the red carpet before the dinner. The news outlet shared a video of Failla's interview with the press secretary on Instagram (archived).
However, the context surrounding Leavitt's comment indicates she was referring to the expected content of Trump's upcoming speech at the correspondents' dinner. The phrase "shots fired" is a common figure of speech that refers to someone making jokes or jabs at another person. There was no evidence that Leavitt's comment referenced the shooting before it happened.
Given the above, we rate this claim as a correct attribution, but with added context.
During his interview with Leavitt, Failla referred to Trump's plans to take the stage at the correspondents' dinner and said, "This man is ready to rumble, is he not?" Leavitt responded by saying (emphasis ours):
He is ready to rumble. I will tell you this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It'll be funny. It'll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room. So everyone should tune in. It's going to be really great. I'm looking forward to hearing it.
Leavitt's references to the president's upcoming speech as "funny" and "entertaining" directly before her "shots fired" remark point to the speech's content rather than the gunfire that erupted hours later.
Snopes contacted the White House via email to request further comment about the context of Leavitt's comments and the content of the president's planned speech that led her to make them. We will update this story if we receive a response.
Trump's comments at a news conference (archived) following the incident also suggested his planned speech likely would have included some pointed remarks directed at those in the room:
I was all set to really rip it. And I said to my people, 'This would be the most inappropriate speech ever made' [...] So I'll have to save it. I don't know if I could ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I'm going to be probably very nice. I'll be very boring the next time.
Trump said during the same news conference that the dinner and awards ceremony would be rescheduled for another time within the next 30 days, adding that it would be "bigger and better and even nicer."
For further reading, we've investigated multiple claims related to the 2024 attempt on Trump's life at a campaign rally in Butler,