“THE WORLD HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DANGEROUS PLACE”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Aug. 10, 2020) — Just minutes into his Monday afternoon press conference, President Trump was approached by a man who had been sitting to the left side of the dais and apparently instructed him to leave the room, which he did, along with three other men in suits, through the blue door to the Brady Press Room by which Trump had entered.
The president had been speaking about gains in the stock market and other economic indices on Monday morning when one of the men, apparently from the Secret Service, approached him and signaled for him to leave.
The press conference had been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT. Shortly after 6:00 p.m., Trump returned to the podium and thanked the Secret Service for its “always quick and very effective work.” He then explained, “There was an actual shooting and somebody’s been taken to the hospital. I don’t know the condition of the person. It seems that the person was shot by Secret Service, so we’ll see what happens…,” after which he called on reporters for questions.
“There are no details; we just found out just now,” he replied to the first question. “It was outside of the White House, this area right over here, and they’ll have details for you in a little while.”
Trump additionally said that Fox News’s John Roberts “reported that he heard shots” while positioned outside of the briefing room.
One reporter asked, “Were you taken to the bunker?” to which Trump replied, “No, we were taken just out over to the Oval Office.” Another wanted to know what the Secret Service said to him on the dais, which Trump recounted as, “Sir, could you please come with me?”
“You were surprised; I was surprised, also,” he said. “I think it’s probably pretty unusual, but they are very, very professional people; they do a fantastic job, as you know.”
He reiterated that “law enforcement shot someone” and that no one in law enforcement was injured. “They’ll have a detailed, maybe a briefing, for you outside later,” he said.
In response to a question as to whether or not he felt “rattled,” Trump said, in part, “The world has always been a dangerous place.”
———————-
Update, 7:04 p.m. EDT: Approximately 30 minutes ago, the U.S. Secret Service issued a statement on Twitter about the incident.
