Donald Trump has described the “mistakes” made by Secret Service on the day of his attempted assassination in an interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
Trump revealed the type of discussions he had with Secret Service members while talking about the one-year anniversary of the incident on Fox News’ My View with Lara Trump. The full interview will air on Saturday.
Trump was speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 last year when he was shot by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks. The president’s right ear was wounded from a vantage point on a nearby roof.
The gunman killed Corey Comperatore, who was in the audience at the rally, and injured two other people before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.
The president described the moment as “unforgettable” in a preview of the interview.
“They briefed me numerous times, the FBI, the Secret Service, sort of everybody,” Trump said. “They briefed me and I’m satisfied with it. They should had somebody in the building. That was a mistake. They should have had communications with the local police, they weren’t tied in. So there were mistakes made.”
“But I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot. I was satisfied, and you know, I have great confidence in these people. They had a bad day, they will admit that. They had a rough day.”
The president shared his memories of the incident, and his confusion once the shots began, with his daughter-in-law, who is married to Trump’s second son, Eric. The pair have two children together.
“Well, it was unforgettable,” Trump said, adding that he “didn’t know exactly what was going on.”
“I got whacked, there’s no question about that. And fortunately (I) got down quickly, and people were screaming, and I got down quickly, fortunately, ‘cause I think they shot eight bullets. And one got me, and one got another one, and one got another one, and one killed Corey, the firefighter, great guy.”
Trump then added, “And you know, we had a tremendous massive crowd, tens of thousands of people were there, and our sniper within less than five seconds was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation.”
The new interview comes as the Secret Service suspended six personnel who were on duty at the Butler rally.
Penalties ranged from 10 to 42 days of leave without pay or benefits.
Two weeks after the assassination attempt, then-director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down as head of the Secret Service, taking “full responsibility for the security lapse” that led to the deadly shooting.
Secret Service deputy director Matt Quinn told CBS News this week the organization was “totally accountable” for what happened at the rally. He said, “Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again.”
Lara Trump went on Fox Business on Thursday to promote the interview, and admitted there was still mystery surrounding gunman Crooks.
A registered Republican, Crooks had signed up to attend the rally the day before it took place, the same day he went to a shooting rifle with his AR-15.
He is believed to have acted alone, had no criminal record and the FBI found there was “no indication” of mental health issues.
“I think the American people are still kind of waiting to get to the bottom of it,” the Fox host said of Crooks and his motivation. “I think if we can expose that to the American people I think it’ll be a big thing, because we do all still have a lot of questions.”
She added, “But, you know, to hear the president and as I know him, my father-in-law, say that he’s satisfied with the information he has (from the Secret Service) that does make me as his daughter-in-law, feel better. That makes me as an American feel better.”
