In a recent interview, Donald Trump shared that Melania Trump witnessed an assassination attempt on his life live on television, a distressing experience for her.
On July 13, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old, attempted to assassinate Trump, but the former president survived the ordeal.
During a conversation with Laura Ingraham, Trump revealed that Melania was watching the events unfold on TV. “She was watching live. It was all over the place. It was on television,” Trump said.
Trump noted that while the experience demonstrated Melania’s deep concern for him, it also made it difficult for her to discuss the traumatic day. “She can’t even really talk about it. That’s okay, that means she likes me. She loves me. She could talk about it freely; I’m not sure which is better. She either likes or loves me, that’s nice,” Trump added.
Trump expressed sympathy for the Secret Service agents who were on duty, acknowledging their bravery despite the challenges. “I just want to say one thing about the Secret Service… they were very brave. Bullets were flying over me. I went down and they were on top of me, I had a lot of very big, strong people on top of me,” he said.
Despite his frequent remarks about the incident, Trump admitted understanding why things went wrong that day. He criticized the response, saying, “There should have been someone on the roof, communicating with the local police, and we’re seeing this guy, who was a very disturbed person.”
In the wake of the attack, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, resigned from her position. Trump suggested that her resignation should have occurred sooner, but praised the Secret Service countersniper who killed Crooks.
Trump also mentioned he would be providing a “victim statement” to the FBI on Thursday.
Details have emerged about the incident: Trump supporters had been vocal, and there were lapses in security, including a failure to address warnings about the shooter. Crooks had been at the rally three hours before the shooting and was seen carrying a rangefinder, which went unnoticed by security.
After scaling the building, Crooks fatally shot former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore before attempting to shoot Trump. Crooks had informed his supervisor he needed a day off on Saturday, a chilling prelude to the attack.
FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that Crooks had researched the distance between Lee Harvey Oswald and John F. Kennedy before the attack and had flown a drone near the stage two hours prior. Three explosives were later found in Crooks’ car.
At the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump narrowly escaped the shooting, and the Secret Service quickly escorted him off the stage. The FBI confirmed that the countersniper who killed Crooks acted alone.
Amid scrutiny over the Secret Service’s handling of the event, Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday. She faced harsh criticism from Congress, where she acknowledged her agency’s mistakes and admitted that her team had received multiple warnings about a “suspicious person” before the attack. The failure to station an agent on the roof or prevent Trump from entering the stage after a threat was identified contributed to the mounting questions about the security lapses.
