After gunshots rang out during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, first lady Melania Trump realized very quickly that the show could not go on.
According to PEOPLE, Marc Beckman, the exclusive senior adviser to the first lady, tells outlet days after the shooting that Melania was "calm, decisive, and in full control" when chaos broke out in the Washington Hilton ballroom and armed guards responded to the threat.
Melania and other "key officials" in the Trump administration were led to a secure room within the hotel to regroup, Beckman says.
The conversation quickly shifted to what they should do next, as 2,600 confused guests remained in the ballroom hiding under tables and awaiting instructions.
Beckman says Melania believed "the right thing to do" in order to ensure everyone's safety was to pump the brakes on the dinner and "regroup" at a future date.
"And she was advocating within the room for that type of a stance," he adds.
It's unclear how long the deliberation on how to proceed lasted, but at one point at least, it appears Melania's perspective wasn't unanimous.
The first person to formally update the dinner guests about the shooting was White House Correspondents' Association president Weijia Jiang, who took the stage several minutes after the commotion to announce that the program would soon resume as planned.
