Timeline of Events Following the Incident

This sequence captures the rapid progression from the immediate on-scene response and Trump’s initial reactions, through coordination with law enforcement, to the early stages of formal charging and public communication. 

The events unfolded over roughly two hours, highlighting swift action by both the Secret Service/protective detail and federal prosecutors.

Approximately 9:17 p.m. ET:
Former President Trump issued his first public statements after the shooting. He praised law enforcement for acting “quickly and bravely” in response to the incident. In a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed that “the shooter has been apprehended.” He also recommended that the event proceed without interruption, emphasizing resilience and continuity.

Approximately 9:37 p.m.:
Roughly 20 minutes later, Trump posted a follow-up update on Truth Social. He revealed that law enforcement had asked him and others at the venue to evacuate the premises for safety and security reasons. Trump stated that he was complying with the request. He added that the event would be rescheduled “within 30 days” to ensure it could take place under secure conditions.

Approximately 10:30 p.m.:
Trump held a formal press conference at the White House, joined by the Director of the FBI and the Acting U.S. Attorney General. During the briefing, Trump and senior law enforcement officials provided an initial update to the public. They reported that preliminary investigations indicated the suspect had acted as a lone shooter, with no immediate evidence of additional accomplices or broader coordination. The appearance underscored a coordinated federal response and aimed to reassure the public amid heightened tensions.

Approximately 11:13 p.m.:
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, addressed reporters. She announced that the suspect was being formally charged with two key federal offenses: Using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. These charges reflect the gravity of the attack on protected personnel and the use of a firearm in the commission of the crime.

The events unfolded over roughly two hours, highlighting swift action by both the Secret Service/protective detail and federal prosecutors.

Shooter Detained After Trump Whisked From Stage

President Donald Trump was swiftly evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night after multiple loud sounds echoed through the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, prompting immediate Secret Service action and sending attendees scrambling for cover.

Trump was seated prominently on stage at the front of the cavernous ballroom when the disturbance occurred, midway through the evening’s program. Vice President JD Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, and several members of the Cabinet were also in attendance, making the gathering one of the most high-profile concentrations of senior U.S. officials in a single venue in recent memory.

Secret Service agents moved quickly, escorting the president off the stage and backstage within seconds. According to a White House official, once safely behind the scenes, Trump calmly remarked that the event should continue despite the scare.

In a social media post shortly afterward, the president praised the rapid response:
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely.”

Attendees described a moment of chaos as the sharp sounds reverberated across the large room. Guests who had been enjoying dinner instinctively crouched under tables and sought shelter, while security personnel scanned the area. The precise nature of the sounds — whether they were fireworks, a mechanical failure, a prank, or something more concerning — was not immediately clarified by authorities.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner traditionally brings together Washington’s political elite, prominent journalists, Hollywood celebrities, and business leaders for an evening of speeches, comedy roasts, and networking. This year’s event was no exception, drawing top administration officials alongside members of the press and influential figures from across the country into the Hilton’s expansive ballroom.

No injuries were reported, and the president was confirmed to be safe.

Radio History: April 26

➦In 1916...Vic Perrin born (Died of cancer at age 73 – July 4, 1989). He was a  radio, film, and television actor, perhaps best remembered for providing the "Control Voice" in the original version of the television series The Outer Limits.  He was also a radio scriptwriter as well as a narrator in feature films and for special entertainment and educational projects, such as the original Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Perrin was a regular performer on many commercial radio programs. In 1941 he became a staff announcer for NBC, staying there for several years before moving to ABC and becoming chief announcer at the Blue Network.  His first credited role came in 1943, when he served as the announcer for "The Last Will and Testament Of Tom Smith", a radio episode of Free World Theatre, which was produced and directed by Arch Oboler.  He narrated too "A Star With Two Names", part of the segment "Behind The Scenes Hollywood Story" of The Hollywood Music Hall radio program. At the same time, he joined Charles Laughton's theatrical repertory group.

Perrin was also a regular guest star on the radio version of Gunsmoke, and he wrote or co-wrote five scripts for that popular Western series between 1959 and 1961.  Perrin was a series regular as well on the anthology radio drama Family Theatre, played Ross Farnsworth on One Man's Family, and was featured as cavalry trooper Sergeant Gorse in Fort Laramie in 1956. He performed too as several characters in Escape, Pete Kelly's Blues, Dragnet, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, and Have Gun – Will Travel. In an uncredited role, he also impersonated Clyde Beatty on The Clyde Beatty Show.

He played supporting roles on TV, many of them as a voicist on cartoons, for more than 30 years.

➦In 1921…Radio station WEW was the first to broadcast weather news and forecasts.

Saint Louis University established the station 9YK around 1912, using Morse code to communicate seismological and weather information.

Brother George E. Rueppel, assistant director of the Meteorological Observatory at SLU, worked with 9YK before he founded WEW in 1921.

Audio transmissions began at 10:05 a.m. on April 26, 1921; the first voice heard was SLU president Rev. William Robison. The station received radio license #560 to broadcast on 618.6 kHz (wavelength 485 meters) as WEW on 23 March 1922.

➦In 1924...WHO Des Moines is believed to have signed-on, although the actual on-air start date is in dispute.

A WHO memo from June 14, 1951 states that the first broadcast was on April 10, 1924; this is contradicted by Barry Mishkind Database which states that the First Broadcast License was effective on April 10, 1924 (the FCC's records indicate that the license took effect on April 15, 1924) with the first broadcast on April 26, 1924.

iHM, SiriusXM Talking Possible Merger

iHeartMedia Inc. is in preliminary talks about a possible sale to Sirius XM Holdings Inc.

According to Bloomberg, the discussions are early-stage, with no guarantee a deal will materialize, and representatives for both companies declined to comment. The report frames the potential combination against the backdrop of ongoing struggles in the traditional radio industry.

iHeartMedia is the largest U.S. radio broadcaster by audience reach. It operates roughly 858 stations (including major brands like Z100, Kiss FM, and Power 105.1), its iHeartRadio streaming app, and a vast live-events business. It is also the No. 1 podcast publisher in the U.S. by downloads and reach (ahead of the next two largest publishers combined), according to Podtrac and Triton data. 

The company emerged from a lengthy Chapter 11 restructuring in 2019 and carries significant debt.

SiriusXM is the dominant satellite-radio provider, with a large base of subscription revenue (roughly $8–9 billion annually in recent periods). It also owns the Pandora streaming service and has aggressively expanded into podcasts. The company became fully independent in September 2024 after a Liberty Media Corp. split-off and re-listing as standalone SIRI. 

Subscriber growth has slowed in recent years as consumers shift to on-demand audio.

The Bloomberg sources emphasize the talks are preliminary.  Initial Market Reaction to news of the talks triggered an immediate positive response. iHeartMedia shares (IHRT) surged as much as 14% intraday on the report, while SiriusXM (SIRI) also rose. Investors appear to be pricing in a potential catalyst ahead of SiriusXM’s Q1 earnings on April 30.

iHeartMedia, the nation’s largest radio operator with more than 860 stations across 160 U.S. markets, has shifted much of its focus in recent years toward building a major streaming business. The company has found particular success in podcasts, expanding many of its audio hits into video formats and forging partnerships with platforms such as Netflix and TikTok.Standout shows on its network include Charlamagne tha God’s The Breakfast Club and This Is Important, hosted by Workaholics stars Adam Devine, Anders Holm, and Blake Anderson.

SiriusXM has followed a similar path, evolving beyond its satellite radio roots to offer robust streaming options in news, talk, and podcasts. Its lineup features major hits such as Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, SmartLess with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, and Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend—all of which landed nine-figure deals with the company.

Bottom Line:  A combined iHeartMedia–SiriusXM entity could emerge as a powerful traditional-media counterweight to the growing dominance of Big Tech in the audio and entertainment space.

Why A Possible Merger Makes Sense

At least on paper, why a iHeartMedia and SiriusXM merger makes sense.

The audio-media sector is under intense pressure from digital streaming giants (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music) and shifting ad dollars. Traditional broadcast and satellite radio have seen ad revenue soften, while podcasts and on-demand platforms capture younger listeners and higher-margin digital ad spend.

A tie-up would theoretically create the “undisputed king of broadcast + satellite + podcast audio,” reaching nearly every American ear each month:

• iHeart brings massive free, over-the-air terrestrial distribution and podcast dominance.
• SiriusXM brings high-margin subscription revenue and established satellite/streaming infrastructure (including Pandora).

Combined, the entity could bundle satellite subscriptions, ad-supported broadcast/streaming, and podcasts into a more competitive “Spotify killer” product, improve ad-tech scale, cut overlapping costs, and cross-promote content.

SiriusXM has been pushing podcasts aggressively (it is now one of the top podcast networks by reach), but integrating them with its satellite base has proven challenging. iHeart’s terrestrial reach and influencer network could accelerate that effort. 

Conversely, iHeart’s ad-dependent model would gain a stable subscription revenue stream to offset declining broadcast ads.

This isn’t the first time a SiriusXM-linked entity has eyed iHeartMedia. In 2018–2019, Liberty Media (then SiriusXM’s controlling shareholder) proposed investing roughly $1.16 billion for a 40% stake during iHeart’s bankruptcy restructuring; those talks ultimately went nowhere amid creditor negotiations and regulatory concerns. DOJ antitrust scrutiny was a factor in earlier explorations.

Potential Hurdles:  Antitrust/Regulatory: A merger of this scale in U.S. audio media would almost certainly draw close DOJ and FCC review. Past attempts were already flagged for concentration concerns; today’s even-larger podcast and streaming footprints could intensify scrutiny.

Debt: Both companies are described as among America’s more leveraged audio players. Any deal would need to address balance sheets carefully.

Execution: Integrating satellite infrastructure, hundreds of broadcast stations, and disparate digital platforms would be complex.

Audience Is Aging For Traditional Radio

Radio’s core audience is aging rapidly and shifting away from traditional over-the-air listening, according to Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey 2026.

The annual survey of nearly 31,000 P1 (primary) listeners from 506 U.S. commercial radio stations shows broadcast now accounts for just 54% of time spent with favorite stations in a typical week — down from 59% last year — while digital platforms have climbed to 44%. 

The once-dominant gap between broadcast and digital has narrowed from 71 points in 2013 to only 10 points today.

Among younger respondents, the shift is even further along: Gen Z listeners already prefer digital (49%) slightly over broadcast (48%), while Millennials split 52% broadcast to 46% digital. The average respondent is now 58.4 years old, up from 58.0 in 2025 and 55.5 in 2023. One in three is 65 or older, compared to one in four just three years ago. Boomers represent 45% of the sample, Gen X 40%, Millennials 12%, and Gen Z only 2%.

Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs noted the same aging trend appears in the company’s public radio and Christian-format surveys, indicating it reflects the makeup of station email databases rather than a sampling anomaly. He challenged the industry’s long-standing habit of dismissing listeners 55+ as “out-of-demo,” pointing out that device ownership and digital behavior in this group have risen sharply since COVID.

Smart TV ownership among those 55+ has increased 16 points since 2021 to 75%, weekly streaming audio use has reached 72%, and smart speaker ownership has jumped from 30% to 42%. AI usage in the cohort rose from 3% in 2024 to 14% this year.

In the car — once radio’s strongest domain — AM/FM listening has fallen to 50% of weekday in-car audio time, down from 62% in 2018. SiriusXM holds 20%, streaming audio 10%. Connected car infotainment system ownership has grown from 24% to 40% over the same period, with the two trend lines moving in near-perfect opposition.

At home, working radios that respondents actually use have dropped to an all-time low of 72%, down from 83% in 2018. Among Millennials, the figure is just 61%.

The survey was conducted online from January 7 to February 8 and weighted to Nielsen 2025 market population data. It represents station database members, not the broader U.S. population. Audacy’s return to the survey this year created the largest year-over-year sample shift in recent history, which may explain some of the observed trends.

R.I.P.: Wayne Moss, Versatile Nashville Guitarist

Wayne Moss (1938-2026)

Wayne Moss, a versatile Nashville session guitarist who played on landmark hits by Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Bob Dylan, died Monday at his home in Madison, Tenn. He was 88.

His death was caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his family said in a statement.

A member of Nashville’s elite A-Team of studio musicians, Moss performed on dozens of hits in the 1960s and ’70s by artists including Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride and others. He was one of the three guitarists behind the iconic staccato riff that opens Orbison’s 1964 chart-topper “Oh, Pretty Woman.” 

He also contributed the distinctive guitar work on Dylan’s “I Want You” (1966), Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (1973), “Coat of Many Colors” (1971) and “I Will Always Love You” (1974), and Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” (1968).

“Wayne Moss was a guitarist of dexterous skill and sophisticated taste,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “Listen carefully and you’ll hear innovative electric lead parts that drew attention to Nashville’s world-class musicianship.”

Moss was equally skilled on bass, laying down the funky groove on Joe Simon’s Grammy-winning “The Chokin’ Kind” (1969) and the distinctive part on Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” from the 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.

After moving to Nashville in 1959, Moss built a reputation as a first-call session player. By 1962 he had appeared on his first No. 1 record, Tommy Roe’s “Sheila.” 

He later helped push country music into new territory as a founder of the experimental country-rock bands Area Code 615 (1969) and Barefoot Jerry (1971). Barefoot Jerry released six albums in the 1970s and earned a notable shout-out in the Charlie Daniels Band’s 1975 hit “The South’s Gonna Do It.”