Trump admits he 'wasn't making it that easy' for Secret Service during shooting
Speaking to 60 Minutes, the US President said he asked agents to 'wait a minute' as shots rang out, and that he and the First Lady were only on the floor because agents specifically requested it.
Donald Trump has admitted he made life harder for his own Secret Service detail during the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, because he "wanted to see what was going on".
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Speaking to CBS News on 60 Minutes on Sunday, the US President acknowledged he told agents to wait while chaos erupted around him at Washington's Hilton Hotel on Saturday night.
"It was a little bit me," Trump said. "I wanted to see what was happening. And I wasn't making it that easy for him. I wanted to see what was going on".
He added that his hesitation likely had a knock-on effect on his protection team: "I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see.'"
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CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell, who was herself in the ballroom when gunfire broke out, pressed Trump on the moment when he appeared to go down with his agents. She noted it took ten seconds to flank Trump and another twenty to get him out. "It looked chaotic," she told him. "At one point, you were down."
The president was characteristically keen to clarify he had not exactly hit the floor.
"I was standing up pretty much," he said. "I turned around the opposite direction and started pretty much walking out pretty tall, a little bent over."
It was only when agents specifically asked him to drop to the floor that he did so: "They said: 'Please go down to the floor. Please go down to the floor.' So I dropped to the floor. So did the First Lady."
Trump and Melania were among those evacuated from the event after a gunman charged a security checkpoint, reportedly exchanging gunfire with Secret Service agents.
The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
Saturday marked Trump's first time attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner as president- he had historically declined the invitation.
He later vowed to reschedule it within 30 days, saying: "We're going to do it again."