In a moment that perfectly captured Donald Trump’s penchant for making literally everything about himself, the president used a White House event Monday to complain that Secret Service agents evacuated JD Vance faster than they evacuated him during last month’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Speaking during a Police Week gathering in the Rose Garden, Donald Trump recounted the terrifying moments after gunfire erupted outside the Washington Hilton ballroom on April 25. But instead of focusing on the injured Secret Service agent, the danger to attendees, or the broader security failure, Trump seemed annoyed by how quickly agents rushed JD Vance to safety.
“They had great professional people, and they came out within seconds,”
Trump said before immediately shifting into what sounded less like a security briefing and more like jealousy.
“I saw them take JD by the shoulders and lift him up like he was a little boy,” Trump continued.
“I said ‘how come they didn’t lift me up so fast?’ They lifted JD — got ripped out of the chair. That was a view of the week, but they did the job, JD, right? I think so.”
So while Secret Service agents were reacting to an active shooting situation, Trump’s lingering thought apparently became: Why didn’t I get the dramatic action-movie extraction too?
Video from the incident shows agents sprinting toward Vance and physically pulling him backward offstage as additional agents surrounded Trump moments later. Trump was eventually escorted out as well, though footage appeared to show him briefly stumbling during the evacuation.
In an interview the following day with CBS News, Trump claimed the slower response around him was partially because he wanted to keep watching events unfold.
“I wanted to see what was happening … I probably made them act a little more slowly,” he told Norah O’Donnell.
Trump also denied reports that he fell during the evacuation.
“I was walking out…about halfway there, they said ‘please go down to the floor,’” he said.
Authorities later identified the alleged shooter as Cole Allen, a California engineer accused of opening fire near a security checkpoint outside the ballroom. One Secret Service agent was injured but survived thanks to body armor, according to officials.
Allen has been charged with attempted assassination and several firearm-related offenses. Investigators reportedly believe he may have acted over political grievances tied in part to the escalating Iran conflict.
According to reports, Allen allegedly sent a manifesto before the attack that included the line:
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
When asked about the alleged manifesto during the CBS interview, Trump attacked the media instead of addressing the substance of the writings.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people,” he told O’Donnell before dismissing the document as “crap” written by a “sick person.”
But perhaps the strangest part of this entire saga is how quickly the event itself became absorbed into America’s nonstop conspiracy culture. A recent YouGov survey found that nearly a quarter of Americans believe the shooting may have been staged.
