The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was interrupted by loud bangs on Saturday evening and Donald Trump and Melania Trump were evacuated immediately as many journalists and their guests ducked under tables in the Washington Hilton ballroom.

There were reports that the US Secret Service had guns drawn as White House pool reporters were rushed out of the room and Secret Service agents mentioned “shots fired”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised secret service and law enforcement and said the shooter had been apprehended. He said he was waiting for a decision about whether the event would continue.

Guardian reporters in the room said there were initially mixed messages about whether press and guests should stay in the room.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer reported that he saw someone with a gun at the event.

“I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting,” he said. “Police officers threw him to the ground.”

Guests had just started eating dinner when the commotion began. The atmosphere in the room was tense as journalists waited to hear what happened and what to do next.

Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, who was attending the dinner said he never saw a shooter but “I think a secret service agent threw me to the ground and on top of some other people and people were screaming and yelling”.

“I heard some loud noises but I don’t know if that was people reacting or if that was something outside, it was hard to know, but people very quickly were saying that was a shot, that was the gunshot,” he added. “People were terrified; people seem to be relieved now.”

Outside the hotel, helicopters circled overhead.