WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday there was one silver lining to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting — it served as a unifying moment that brought together political rivals. 

“It was a very sad evening in many ways, and it was also an evening where a lot of people got together,” Trump, 79, reflected to Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.” “I saw some Democrats as we were leaving, and they were generally hostile, [but] last night they were waving to me.

“So there was something very nice,” the president said. “I think it came together. The place was just coming together. It was very nice to see, actually.”

After the shooting, Trump delivered a briefing to the press at the White House and conveyed a similar message about unity.

The president and top cabinet officials were whisked away from the dinner at the Washington Hilton after a madman opened fire near the security checkpoint to get into the ballroom. A Secret Service agent suffered a minor injury when shot in their bulletproof vest. 

“We have to, we have to resolve our differences,” Trump told reporters Saturday after the shooting. “I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives. Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they’re not.

“But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that.”

Trump called up reporters such as ABC News’ Jonathan Karl to check in on their well-being and see how they were holding up after the violence.

Trump said he wanted to carry on with the night’s festivities and not let “these really bad people change the course of events.” But he acknowledged the security concerns that prompted organizers to cut the event short. 

“I really wanted to go [back]. I really wanted to. But the protocol was no,” Trump told “The Sunday Briefing.” “I really wanted to do it that night. Even if we stayed late into the night.

“But we did the right thing, and we came back to the White House, we did a news conference and explained what happened.”

Trump said he is now hoping that the dinner will be held again in about 30 days. The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the White House press corps. organizes the annual dinner, which has been held in the Washington Hilton since 1968.

Follow The Post’s live updates on the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

WHCA President Weijia Jiang has signaled an eagerness to redo the dinner. 

Saturday was the first time Trump attended the dinner as president, having skipped it last year and all throughout his first term. The last time he attended it was in 2011, when he was mocked by then-President Barack Obama.

While reflecting on how Saturday played out, Trump praised the Secret Service as “outstanding” and re-upped his call to complete his controversial White House ballroom project, which he argued would be a more secure venue for the event in the future.

He said of the Washington Hilton, “It is a very big hotel on top of the ballroom. 

“And people come down in the elevator, and they’re right next to the ballroom, and nobody’s blaming them. They’re good people. I’ve been in that room many times.

“But, you know, [the hotel has] had difficulty in the past, and the new [planned ballroom] is set not to have that kind of thing,” he said, seemingly alluding to the assassination attempt of then-President Ronald Reagan outside the hotel.