In the hours and days after the April 25, 2026, shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a photo circulated online purportedly showing U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth smiling as he left a news conference that night about the incident.
For example, one X user who posted the picture wrote, in part (archived):
Candid laughing photograph of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after walking out of a press briefing by President Donald Trump at the White House, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, in Washington, D.C.
The alleged photograph also appeared on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. It spread after a Secret Service agent was injured by gunfire when the suspected shooter attempted to enter the ballroom where President Donald Trump, senior members of his administration and journalists had gathered for the annual White House Correspondents' Association fundraising dinner.
That same evening, Trump told a White House news conference that he spoke to the injured agent who was reportedly, "doing great." The suspected shooter, whom The Associated Press named as Cole Tomas Allen, was arrested and would face charges, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Some of those social media users suggested the image confirmed an unproven theory that the Trump administration or U.S. government staged or planned the incident. Snopes readers also contacted us to ask about the photo.
In short, the picture of Hegseth is authentic, meaning not generated or edited using artificial intelligence. According to reputable news agency Reuters, its photographer Kylie Cooper captured the photo as Hegseth left Trump's news conference on April 25 (archived). Therefore, we've rated the claim that it shows the defense secretary smiling as he left the conference as true.
Snopes could not independently verify the claim that the Trump administration or the government planned or staged the April 25 shooting, or that Hegseth had any knowledge of such hypothetical plans.
We contacted the Department of Defense to ask why Hegseth was smiling in the Reuters photo and await a reply.
Reuters captioned the photo as follows:
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reacts after walking out of a press briefing by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026
Another Reuters picture shows Hegseth left the conference at the same time as FBI Director Kash Patel, who Cooper snapped looking at Hegseth. This photograph also shows Patel with a smile on his face.
Other photos from reputable news agency Getty Images show Hegseth at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and Trump's news conference. One picture shows Hegseth and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt smiling in the White House briefing room where Trump spoke to reporters after the shooting.
During the news conference, Blanche said the Department of Justice would bring "multiple charges surrounding the shooting, around the possession of firearms and anything else that we can get on this guy," referring to Allen.
It is unclear, as of this writing, whether the White House Correspondents' Association would reschedule its dinner.
For further reading, Snopes also investigated whether Leavitt said there would be "shots fired" at the event.