Donald Trump Claims He Visited The White House Bunker For Inspection During George Floyd Protest
Multiple reports claimed Donald Trump was shifted to an underground bunker in the White House during Friday's severe protest outside the building after the death of George Floyd, but the president denied these speculations until recently. The president said he visited the bunker on Friday night for a brief inspection, contracting the previously surfaced reports during an interview on Fox News host Brian Kilmeade’s radio show.
Trump said he went down during the day for a short period of time for an inspection, rather than trying to find a safe place, adding that there was no problem during the day. Talking about the Secret Service, Kilmeade asked the president whether or not they asked him to go downstairs as it is their responsibility to ensure his welfare. Trump denied this by saying, the Secret Service didn't tell him anything at all.
Originally reported by The New York Times, Trump was taken to the bunker, which is also called the Presidential Emergency Operations Center by the Secret Service agents on Friday night as protests outside the White House became threatening. Talking to NBC News, a senior administration official revealed that the president was shifted to the bunker for a short period citing the aggressive protest, and Trump returned to his White House residence within an hour.
Debunking these remarks and multiple other reports that claim he went down to the bunker for safety, Trump insists he was there for a short period only to inspect the area following the Secret Service's advice. This comes just days after George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
According to Trump, the Secret Service advised him to go down for an inspection. Without divulging details about who went to the bunker along with him, Trump said he was accompanied by a group of people for the inspection but he was back up after a short period. He told Kilmeade that the inspection took place during the day time and not during the night.
Trump admitted he visited the bunker two or three times, but only for inspection purposes. According to the president, there were only a few protesters outside the White House during the day time, adding that there is a lot of fake news going around. He told Kilmeade that he probably has an idea about the amount of fake news doing the rounds at the moment.