The scene was chaotic on stage at the White House Correspondents’ Diner when the shots rang out in the foyer. Secret Service men tried to bring Donald Trump to safety. Now the US President is speaking in detail for the first time on the television show “60 Minutes” about how he experienced these moments during the weekend’s assassination attempt. “Well, it was me too,” he tells host Norah O’Donnell. The 79-year-old continued: “I wanted to see what happened and I didn’t make it easy for them. I wanted to see everything.” It took a moment until it became clear that it wasn’t just a loud noise. He was quickly surrounded by great people. “But,” Trump said, “I slowed them down a little bit. I said: Wait a minute, wait, wait. Let me see. Wait.”
Asked about what looked like a minor fall on stage, Trump explained that his bodyguards asked him to kneel. He and First Lady Melania followed the request. The reason for the kneeling was that he walked out “pretty upright” and they wanted to protect him. He was never worried. “I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” Trump said.
Trump sees assassination attempt as confirmation of his policies
The US President praised his wife Melania for being so “strong” and “smart” as the dramatic scenes unfolded in the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Washington. For them it was the first assassination attempt. When Donald Trump was shot in Pennsylvania in 2024, she was not on stage. In contrast to Trump, Vice President JD Vance was quickly removed from the podium by the Secret Service. Trump says the suspected shooter, Colly Allen, ran past the metal detectors in a “second” before he started shooting and was subdued by police.
The president jokes that a football team in the NFL professional league should sign Allen. He also praised the Secret Service for neutralizing the shooter before he could cause any major damage. He confirmed that the “Correspondents’ Diner” should be rescheduled within 30 days. Trump says he actually wanted to continue the evening.
When asked about the attacker’s accusations in his “manifesto” that he was no longer willing to “allow a pedophile, rapist and traitor to soil my hands with his crimes” and whether that meant him, Trump responded sharply. “I’m not a pedophile… I’m cleared of everything. Your friends from the other side, they’re the ones who are connected to Epstein and other things.” He then repeatedly insulted the presenter O’Donnell as “disgraceful”.
Trump also styled himself as a target because of his political successes. “If you move around a lot, you will be attacked,” he explained shortly after the crime on Saturday evening. On Sunday, he took to social media to compare himself to former President Abraham Lincoln. Without his tariffs on imports and high military spending, Trump said he would be less at risk.
