A performer who was inches from Donald Trump when gunfire erupted at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner described locking eyes with the president as they both ducked for cover.
Oz Pearlman, a self-described "mentalist," told the BBC he was performing a mind-reading trick for Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night when shots rang out.
"I went down very quickly. And then the Secret Service brought President Trump down: I would say very effectively — but quite violently," Pearlman said. "We were about half-a-metre apart… face-to-face looking at each other on the ground, when I'm hearing shots and thinking to myself, 'We're about to die.'"
Video from the event shows Pearlman standing behind the three VIPs, holding a piece of paper just before the shooting began. He had been guessing the name of Leavitt's unborn child as part of his act.
"The timing of it was just so crazy because I was right in the midst of performing for the first lady, and for the president and for the press secretary… guessing the name," he recalled. As he ripped off a piece of paper to reveal the name, he heard gunshots.
Initially, Pearlman feared a bomb because of the way Secret Service agents converged on a single table. "It didn't feel like they were looking for a shooter. It felt like they were looking to stop something from happening," he said.
After agents tackled Trump beside him, Pearlman found himself face-to-face with the president for what seemed like two seconds. "I'm turned to the left looking directly into his eyes — for 'One Mississippi, Two Mississippi' — pretty much thinking that I hope I'm not about to die."
The agents then rushed Trump out of the room, while Pearlman and two others crawled to safety.
Trump, in a subsequent interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, said he "wasn't worried" during the ordeal. "I understand life. We live in a crazy world," he said. He recalled agents telling him to "go down on the floor," and both he and the first lady complied.
Police arrested Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of California, at the venue. Officials say he exchanged fire with security on the floor above the ballroom. Sources told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that Allen said he wanted to shoot Trump administration officials. He is due in court Monday.