Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered ​his support for ‌U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone ​call following a shooting ​at the White House ⁠Correspondents’ Association dinner, ​the Turkish presidency said ​late on Sunday.

“Erdogan said he saw the incident ​as a heinous ​act against democracy and press ‌freedom,” ⁠the presidency said in a statement on X, Reuters reported.

Earlier, Erdogan ​had condemned ​the ⁠incident in a separate statement ​on X, saying ​he ⁠was happy that Trump and first ⁠lady ​Melania Trump ​were unharmed.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after ​a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.

The armed man fired at a Secret ‌Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters. The agent was hit in an area covered by protective gear and not harmed, the official said.

All federal officials, including Trump, were safe. About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”

“Quite ​an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump added.

‘GET DOWN, GET DOWN!’

Shortly afterwards, ​he posted, “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition.” He ⁠said he would be holding a White House press conference on Saturday night.

Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the service ​was investigating a shooting near the main screening area at the entrance to the event.

After the sound of shots, dinner attendees immediately ​stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!” Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall.

Security agents pushed cabinet officials to the ground, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Other security ​personnel in combat fatigues stormed the stage and evacuated Trump and his wife. Some security personnel took up position on the stage, ​pointing their rifles into the ballroom. Cabinet members were then evacuated from the venue one by one.

Trump and the first lady bent down behind ‌the dais ⁠before being hustled out by Secret Service officers. Trump stayed backstage about one hour, a source told Reuters. “We are staying,” he was overheard saying, the source said.

The event eventually was canceled for the evening. Trump posted on social media that he hoped it could be rescheduled in 30 days.

Saturday was the first time Trump has attended the correspondents’ dinner as president.

He was the subject of two ​assassination attempts in 2024, after ​he left the White House ⁠in 2021 and while he was campaigning for reelection.

The most serious occurred while Trump was campaigning at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. Trump was shot and wounded in his ​upper ear by a 20-year-old gunman. The gunman was shot dead by security personnel.

Just over two ​months after the ⁠Butler shooting, Secret Service agents spotted a man wielding a gun and hiding in bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was on the course. It was deemed an assassination attempt and the suspect was sentenced to life in ⁠prison in ​February.

The site of Saturday’s dinner, the Washington Hilton, was the scene of an ​attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan, who was shot and wounded by a would-be assassin outside the hotel in 1981.

Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will ​gauge the political mood at a time when Israel’s government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state.

The West Bank-based ‌Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will help reinforce its claim to authority over the war-torn territory, from where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007, Reuters reported.

Gazans, who are still struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote.

“I’ve been hearing about elections since I was born,” said Adham ​Al-Bardini, sitting next to the family’s cooking pots outside their tent home in the city. “We are eager to take part … so we can change ​the reality imposed on us.”

ISRAEL HAS EXTENDED CONTROL OVER GAZA AND WEST BANK

Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas ⁠and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little progress towards a settlement that envisages international supervision of Gaza.

European ​and Arab governments broadly support an eventual return of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state comprising Gaza, East Jerusalem and ​the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under Israeli occupation.

Western diplomats say local elections could pave the way for the first national elections in nearly two decades and help advance reforms to increase transparency and accountability that the Palestinian Authority says are already well under way.

They are the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war ​started more than two years ago with the cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four years ​ago.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay wages as Israel withholds tax revenues it collects on its behalf, raising fears of economic collapse. Israel justifies withholding the funds in ‌protest at ⁠welfare payments to prisoners and families of those killed by its forces, which it argues incentivise attacks.

The Israeli government has also taken steps to help settlers acquire West Bank land and ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”

In Deir al-Balah, which has suffered less damage from Israel’s assault since 2023 than other Gazan cities, banners bearing candidate lists hang from buildings. Some voting will take place in tents and the process will end ​two hours early due to electricity constraints.

The ​Palestinian election committee cited widespread destruction ⁠among the reasons voting could not be held across the rest of Gaza, more than half of which is controlled by Israel with the rest under Hamas rule.

HAMAS BOYCOTTS VOTE BUT SOME CANDIDATES ARE ALIGNED

Some Palestinian factions are boycotting the ​elections in protest at the Palestinian Authority’s request that candidates back its agreements, which include recognition of the state ​of Israel.

Hamas, which has ⁠ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, has not formally nominated any candidates but one list in the Deir al-Balah election is widely viewed by residents and analysts as aligned with it.

Analysts say the performance of candidates linked to the militant group could gauge its popularity. Most candidates, including in the West Bank, are running under Fatah, ⁠the main ​political movement behind the Palestinian Authority, or as independents.

Hamas has said it would respect the results, ​and Palestinian sources told Reuters ahead of the vote that the group’s civil policemen would be deployed to safeguard polling stations in Gaza.

The Palestinian Central Elections Committee said more than one million Palestinians, ​including 70,000 in Gaza, are eligible to vote, with results expected late on Saturday or on Sunday.