Donald Trump, first lady Melania and senior officials were quickly evacuated to safety from the annual event after several gunshots were heard outside the Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom where around 2,500 people were in attendance.
Follow live - Gunfire shots at correspondents' dinner attended by President Trump
The suspect has been identified by US authorities as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, from Torrance, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Police have said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
Officials have said he has no criminal record and was not on the radar of law enforcement.
Jeffrey Carroll, interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, said the suspect was involved in an altercation as he tried to get into the event.
The suspect exchanged shots with an officer, who was struck but was unharmed because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
He was "tackled to the ground" and handcuffed by law enforcement before being apprehended, Mr Carroll added.
Officials believe Allen was acting alone, but while his motive is unclear, Todd Blanche, acting US attorney general, said the suspect appeared to be targeting Trump administration officials, "likely including the president".
Speaking to Sky News' US partner network, NBC News, he added that he does not believe that the suspect is cooperating with the investigation.
Read more from Sky News:
Terrorists launch simultaneous attacks in Mali
Ten killed in Ukraine after major Russia drone attack
Mr Blanche added that the suspect travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then on to Washington DC, before checking into the hotel where the dinner was held.
Suspect's background
Sky News has verified Cole Thomas Allen's LinkedIn profile, in which he describes himself as a "mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth".
According to his profile, he secured a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and a master's degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.
Allen's online resume suggests he worked for the last six years at C2 Education, a company which helps aspiring college students.
One post also said he was working to develop a new "top-down shooter" combat game set in outer space.
'Lone wolf whack job'
Speaking at a news conference after the incident, President Trump said he may have been the suspected gunman's target.
Earlier, Mr Trump uploaded a photo to his Truth Social platform claiming to show the alleged gunman being apprehended.
He described the suspect as a "lone wolf whack job" from California.
Police believe the suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel where the correspondents' dinner was being held.
"We do believe he was a guest here at the hotel. We have secured a room here in the hotel, and again, we'll go through the appropriate procedures to determine what was inside there," Mr Carroll said.
US attorney Jeanine Pirro has confirmed the suspect has been charged with firearms and assault charges.
Saturday evening was the first time that Mr 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 re-election.
The most serious occurred while Mr Trump was campaigning at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
Mr Trump was shot and wounded in his upper ear by a 20-year-old gunman. The gunman was shot dead by security personnel.
The site of Saturday's dinner, the Washington Hilton, was the scene of an attempt on the life of then president Ronald Reagan, who was shot and wounded by a would-be assassin outside the hotel in 1981.
The US president and his wife, Melania Trump, were rushed out of the White House correspondents' dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC on Saturday night after gunshots rang out.
Trump latest: President rushed to safety after gunfire at dinner
The assailant, who reportedly opened fire near the entrance to the ballroom, was quickly apprehended by law enforcement. He has been named as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, from Torrance, California.
An officer was struck but was saved by a bulletproof vest, Mr Trump, said. Nobody else was injured.
King Charles is travelling to the US for a four-day state visit on Monday, with the incident raising questions about his and the Queen's safety.
Buckingham Palace on Sunday lunchtime said a "number of discussions" are taking place today with the White House to determine "what degree the events of Saturday evening may or may not impact on the operational planning for the visit."
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson added: "His Majesty is being kept fully informed of developments and is greatly relieved to hear that the president, first lady and all guests have been unharmed."
Read more:
The people who have tried to kill Donald Trump
What we know about suspected gunman
The King and Queen are understood to have reached out privately to Mr and Mrs Trump to express their sympathies with all affected and their gratitude to the security services for preventing further injuries.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, told Sky News on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that UK security services "obviously remain in close cooperation" over the King's visit.
He said Sir Keir Starmer sent a message to the president this morning in solidarity over the incident and said British Embassy staff and other Brits who were there "are very grateful to the US Secret Service for the action that they took".
Mr Trump said on Friday that he intends to raise topics including Iran, NATO and the United Kingdom's digital services tax when the King visits.
The monarch's visit will mark the 250th anniversary of US independence from Britain and he will make stops in Virginia and New York, as well as the capital where he will deliver an address to Congress.
The visit also comes as relations between the two countries are at what some have been saying is their worst since the Suez Crisis in 1956, with repeated criticism by Mr Trump of Sir Keir Starmer over his refusal to join the US attack on Iran and dismissive remarks about Britain's military capabilities.
A number of politicians and commentators have called for Sir Keir to call off the visit.
A gunman armed with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint at the White House correspondents' dinner, attended by US President Donald Trump, forcing a swift Secret Service evacuation.
In this special episode of Trump 100, Mark Stone and James Matthews, who were inside the room as events unfolded, take you through what happened, how the security response played out in real time, and what the president said in the aftermath.
We explain what's known so far about the suspect and why the incident comes at such a sensitive political and diplomatic moment, just days before a major state visit.
You can watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.
Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Sky News's US partner network NBC: "It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president".
Speaking after the incident, Mr Trump compared himself to former US president Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in 1865.
Follow latest on Trump dinner shooting
He told a reporter: "I've studied assassinations, and I must tell you, the most impactful people, the people that do the most...
"The people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after."
The president has survived multiple shootings and threats against his life over the last decade - take a look at the timeline below.
February 2026
A man was shot dead by the Secret Service after trying to "unlawfully enter" Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Austin Tucker Martin, 21, who was armed with a shotgun and gas canister, had raised his gun "to a shooting position" before he was shot, according to Palm Beach County officials.
Martin was believed to have travelled from North Carolina, and his cousin later described the family as "big Trump supporters".
Donald and Melania Trump were in Washington at the time of the incident.
September 2024
A man hiding in bushes with an AK-47-style rifle attempted to assassinate Mr Trump as he played golf in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Ryan Routh, 59, fled and abandoned an assault-style rifle but was arrested the same day.
He was later jailed for life without parole, attempting to stab himself in the neck with a pen after the verdict was announced.
July 2024
Mr Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, after eight shots were fired as he spoke at the campaign rally.
Shortly after God Bless The USA was played, and around eight minutes after Mr Trump began speaking, he was shot and wounded in the upper part of his right ear, causing "much bleeding".
The 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by Secret Service counter snipers at the scene, and Mr Trump was bundled from the stage.
One rally attendee was killed and two others seriously injured in the attack.
Images of a bloodied Mr Trump defiantly pumping his fist to the crowd after the shooting were widely shared following the incident.
Read more:
How shooting at Trump dinner unfolded
What we know about suspected gunman
July 2024
Earlier this year, a Pakistani man was convicted of planning to kill Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians, following Washington's killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
Asif Merchant, 47, was convicted of "murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries" at the behest of Iranian authorities, according to the Department of Justice.
He was arrested in 2024 as he was about the leave the US, having met undercover officers who pretended to be potential hitmen.
Tehran denied accusations that it sought to kill Mr Trump or other US officials.
Merchant admitted to joining the plot with Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps but testified he did so to protect his family in Tehran.
June 2016
A 20-year-old British man was jailed after trying to grab a police officer's gun at a rally in a Las Vegas casino, later saying he drove to the event to try to kill the then presumptive Republican nominee.
Michael Sandford, 20, of Dorking, Surrey, was unemployed, living out of his car and had undergone treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder and anorexia, according to authorities. He was unlawfully in the US after overstaying his visa by 10 months.
Sandford was later jailed, and served around half of his year-long sentence, before returning to the UK.
The president later called it "quite the evening" in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising the Secret Service and police officers for a "fantastic job".
Here's how the shooting unfolded - in pictures.