Washington DC, April 29 -- I have been evacuated from a war zone, though I was 10 years old at the time and remember little of it. I stood on the steps of the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021. I have reported from crime scenes and covered murders. In every one of those moments, I was the witness. On Saturday night, for the first time, I found myself on the other side.

I shared a ride with a fellow White House correspondent to the Washington Hilton hotel, joking en route that this had better not be a long night. With the dark humour journalists trade in, I even quipped that President Donald Trump had better not spring a surprise the way President Barack Obama did at the very same dinner in 2011 -- the night he announced the killing...