WASHINGTON, D.C., April 30, 2026 — Oz Pearlman was one reveal away from reading the President of the United States’ mind when gunfire rang out.
The New York City-based mentalist made history on April 25, 2026, as the first magician ever to headline the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner — a century-old tradition that has featured George Carlin, Chevy Chase, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and Stephen Colbert, but never a performer from the magic world.
The evening ended abruptly when a gunman stormed a security checkpoint outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, sending Secret Service agents surging into the room and forcing the evacuation of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
A Trick at the Table
At the moment chaos broke out, Pearlman was standing at the President’s table.
Pearlman had spent time backstage with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who challenged him to guess the name she had chosen for her daughter, due the following week. Rather than reveal his answer immediately, Pearlman saved the trick for the President’s table — writing the name on a sheet of notebook paper, then building to the reveal in front of Leavitt, Melania Trump, and the President himself.
“You could see the reaction to the trick, where everybody was like, ‘Whoa!'” Pearlman told Variety. “But at that exact same moment, we saw dozens of people with guns — a SWAT team and military — running into the center of the room as people started getting under their tables.”
The name on the paper was Vivian.
Secret Service agents shoved Trump to the ground. Pearlman dropped to the floor beside him.
“We laid on the ground, I was a couple feet away from President Trump, eyes locked with one another,” Pearlman wrote on Instagram that night. “It was likely the scariest moment of my life and will never forget it.”
The Shooter
Federal authorities identified the gunman as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, a Caltech-educated mechanical engineer and tutor. According to the Department of Justice, Allen had booked a room at the Washington Hilton on April 6 — the same day Trump confirmed he would attend the dinner — and traveled by train from Los Angeles to Washington, arriving April 24. At approximately 8:40 p.m. on April 25, Allen ran through a security magnetometer on the hotel’s Terrace Level holding a 12-gauge shotgun. A Secret Service officer was struck in the chest and protected by a ballistic vest. Allen was arrested on the scene carrying the shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol, and multiple knives.
Allen was arraigned on April 27 on three federal counts: attempted assassination of the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Minutes before the attack, Allen emailed family members to say goodbye. He signed it “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen.”
It is worth noting that the Washington Hilton was also the site of the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr.
Pearlman’s Response
Pearlman told Variety the evening left him shaken but reflective. “Your body gets flooded with adrenaline. You’re in full fight-or-flight.”
“It was bittersweet,” he said. “The sweet thing is nothing really happened. Nobody was hurt. But the bitter part is that it was going to be an amazing night.”
Pearlman has been invited back for a rescheduled dinner, which Trump has pledged to hold within 30 days. He told Variety he would return if his schedule allows.
As for the darker humor already circulating online about a mentalist caught off-guard by a shooting, Pearlman addressed it directly.
“If I had been killed, people would forever have said, ‘Why didn’t you see that coming?'” he told Variety. “Like, that’s the worst way for a mentalist to die, because the memes are just too good.”
Responses