Mentalist Oz Pearlman has explained the trick he carried out for First Lady Melania Trump shortly before shots were reportedly heard at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
After the clip spread online, viewers wondered what Pearlman had written on the note that appeared to leave Melania Trump stunned. Pearlman has since said the moment was part of an attempt to predict the name of press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s baby girl, who is due next week.
In the footage, Pearlman holds up a sign reading “Viviane” while standing with President Donald Trump, the First Lady, and Leavitt—just before the disruption unfolded.
Speaking to ABC News, Pearlman said he first met Leavitt backstage, where she asked him to try to guess the baby’s name. He added that the conversation was cut short when the President entered, so they agreed to hold off and do the reveal later at the desk.
. @OzTheMentalist reveals the trick he had just performed on Karoline Leavitt when the shooting happened last night at the White House correspondents’ dinner.
He figured out the name of @PressSec ‘s soon to be born child pic.twitter.com/ejxU1E01Jg
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 26, 2026
As the night went on, Pearlman approached to introduce himself to the President and go ahead with the demonstration.
“I was guessing letter by letter, how many letters were in the name, and then right at the moment when you see it happen, I wrote down the name,” he told the outlet. I asked how did I do? And that’s when you see First Lady [gasp] and she says, ‘Ah Is that the name?’”
Pearlman said Leavitt gave him permission to share what he wrote down: Viviane.
He explained that the reveal was immediately followed by the sound of gunshots, after which the President, First Lady, and Cabinet officials were quickly evacuated.
“‘Are we about to die?’”
“When I dropped down, and dropped down to all fours, and I’m waiting and bracing because I think a bomb’s going to go off,” he said.
Afterward, President Donald Trump addressed his wife’s response to what happened.
“Melania was very conscious of what happened. I think she knew immediately what had happened – she was saying ‘that’s a bad noise’. We were whisked away along with other people,” he said.
He also commended the authorities for their handling of the situation.
“The performance of the secret service, the police – all of law enforcement – was really very good.
“It was very quick. There wasn’t much time to be thinking as it was mere seconds before we were out the door.”
The suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allan, is scheduled to be arraigned before a federal court on Monday (April 27).