Full Trump press conference on shooting at White House press dinner

[0:04] Well thank you very much and that was very unexpected but incredibly acted upon by secret [0:14] service and law enforcement and this was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed [0:23] to bring together members of both parties with members of the press and in a certain way it did [0:29] because the fact that they just unified i saw a room that was just totally unified it was [0:36] in one way very beautiful a very beautiful thing to see a man charged a security checkpoint armed [0:43] with multiple weapons and he was taken down by some very brave members of secret service and they [0:50] acted very quickly and have just released for purposes of transparency clarity i've ordered it [0:58] to be put out you probably have it by now put out on truth and put out on many of the platforms [1:06] a tape showing the violence of this thug that attacked our constitution and also showing how [1:14] quickly secret service and law enforcement acted on our country's behalf really did a great job [1:22] one officer was shot but saved by the fact that he was wearing a obviously a very good bulletproof [1:30] vest he was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun and the vest did the job [1:39] i just spoke to the officer and he's doing great he's great shape he is uh has very high spirits [1:48] and we told him we love him and respect him and he's a very proud guy he's very proud of what he does [1:57] secret service agent and uh we looked at all of the conditions that took place tonight and [2:06] i will say you know it's not a particularly secure building and uh i didn't want to say this but [2:15] this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we're planning at the white house it's actually [2:23] a larger room and it's a much more secure it's got it's drone proof it's bulletproof glass we need the [2:28] ballroom that's why secret service that's why the military are demanding it they've wanted the ballroom [2:35] for 150 years for lots of different reasons but today is a little bit different because today we [2:44] need levels of security that probably nobody's ever seen before but everyone owes a tremendous debt of [2:52] gratitude to the courage of law enforcement the law enforcement and working with the dc police and just [3:00] spoke with the mayor and when we're finished the police chief is going to take over and discuss it [3:08] also from their viewpoint but they also performed exactly as they were supposed to and you see the [3:17] attacker in different positions but you also see the attacker totally subdued and under control so as [3:26] you know this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a [3:32] would-be assassin who sought to kill in butler pennsylvania less than two years ago you all know [3:39] that story and in palm beach florida a few months after that we came close we really had again we had [3:47] some great work done by law enforcement but in light of this evening's events i ask that all americans [3:53] recommit with their hearts and resolving our difference peacefully we have to we have to resolve our [4:01] differences i will say you had republicans democrats independents conservatives liberals and progressives [4:10] those words are interchangeable perhaps but maybe they're not but yet everybody in that room big crowd [4:15] record-setting crowd there was a record-setting group of people and there was a tremendous amount of [4:23] love and coming together i watched i watched and i was very very impressed by that but we were [4:31] first lady and i were taken very well care very quickly very quickly rushed off the stage [4:39] vice president jd vance who's here was likewise uh beautifully done i was he was just saying how [4:48] quickly everybody acted law enforcement secret service in particular in this case but law enforcement [4:53] marco had the same thing pete was there pete didn't want any help he didn't want anybody to help [4:58] he doesn't want anybody to help him but he did get something new and i think you also said that it was [5:05] very impressive so with that i'd like to ask todd blanche to come up say a few words and tell you it's [5:13] already uh underway the uh the man has has been captured they've they're going to his apartment i guess [5:22] he lives in california and he's a sick person a very sick person and we don't want things like this to [5:29] happen i think it's very important that i say though and i told the representatives of the [5:34] evening they did such a beautiful job was such a beautiful evening and again they're talking about [5:39] free speech in our constitution that's what it's all about not just uh white house correspondence it's [5:44] really it was really based on free speech in our constitution but i said very importantly that [5:51] we'll do it again within the next 30 days and we'll make it bigger and better and even nicer [5:58] so i just want to thank everybody that was involved i also want to thank the press the media [6:03] you've been very responsible in your coverage i will say i've been seeing what's been out you've [6:07] been very responsible so todd blinch i'd like to say a few words i know we're going to have cash [6:13] and uh then you're going to go on and we can ask i guess we can take a couple of questions [6:18] uh i want to thank the first lady for that was a rather traumatic experience for her there's a lot of [6:26] action taking place up there very quickly but again the response time was really incredible [6:33] and we're going to reschedule we're going to do it again we're not going to let anybody take over [6:38] our society we're not going to cancel things out because we can't do that we wanted to stay tonight [6:43] i will tell you i i fought like hell this day but they uh it was protocol they said please sir [6:53] because they didn't know a lot of there was a lot of action going on and they didn't know could there [6:56] be probably a lone shooter but we'll find out we'll find out very quickly they have it very well under [7:02] control so i want to thank everybody very much and uh todd blanche please thank you very much mr [7:11] president tonight you saw the very worst and the very best of this country you saw the very worst by the [7:19] actions of that coward that the president just talked about but you also saw the very best [7:24] because you saw law enforcement do exactly what they're supposed to do and and you'll see the [7:28] videos come out i expect very shortly and you'll see law enforcement do exactly what we want them to [7:35] do and so i echo what mr president what president trump just said that we are extraordinarily grateful [7:40] and appreciative of the men and women of law enforcement that that did their jobs tonight including one [7:45] who was who was injured this investigation is ongoing i expect you will see charges filed shortly [7:52] uh the charges should be self-evident given the conduct but but as you'll hear there will be [7:58] multiple charges surrounding the shooting around the possession of firearms and and anything else that [8:03] we can get uh get on this guy the investigation is is obviously ongoing and just started there's federal [8:11] law enforcement already working on search warrants and doing their job and i don't want to get ahead of [8:17] them uh and and don't want to get ahead of the work that they're doing even as we speak director patel [8:23] and i were just on the crime scene um a short while ago and everybody in this room should rest assured [8:28] that the metropolitan police department the fbi secret service everybody's on the scene doing their job [8:35] i know that the the police chief is going to give an update from the scene as soon as we're finished here [8:40] and and i obviously will lead the lead the details of what of what they have learned to him but in the [8:46] meantime i just want to thank uh thank everybody in this room for the courage and i want to thank [8:53] president trump for his for his words and and i promise you justice will be served thank you [8:59] dr patel thank you general thank you mr president the president's absolutely right you saw the best [9:07] resolve of american law enforcement because you mr president inspire them 24 7 365. you give them the [9:13] resources that they need and you know they know that you have their back and that is a changing [9:17] dynamic in this country and that's why you saw brave secret service agents respond immediately swiftly [9:23] subdue and take down the suspect and safeguard the lives of thousands of individuals at that hotel [9:28] thanks to our interagency partnership with the department of homeland security and the metropolitan [9:32] police department the fbi was rapidly deployed onto the scene took over the evidence response unit [9:38] is examining all the ballistics that were found on scene to include the long gun and the shell [9:42] casings we are conducting witness interviews as we speak you will hear from our team on the scene [9:47] there with the mayor and the head of the fbi field division there but please know what the attorney [9:52] general has just said reigns no truer you saw the very best of america tonight the very best unite us [9:58] at a time of uncertainty because we have leadership here with the president the vice president that backs [10:03] law enforcement and the men and women that i shook their hands on the scene today could not have been [10:07] prouder to show up on scene and as the attorney general said make no mistake we are conducting witness [10:12] interviews if you have any information any information whatsoever related to this event [10:17] 1-800 call fbi 1-800 call fbi no piece of information is too small no piece of information [10:23] is inadequate we will evaluate it all we will also be conducting interviews of those that were there [10:28] and if any of those individuals have information please come forward to law enforcement or the fbi or [10:33] the metropolitan police department we will be examining this individual's background thoroughly that [10:37] process has already started and we are going to ensure that he was either a lone wolf actor [10:41] or anyone else that was responsible we will analyze all evidence immediately to make sure that we [10:46] safeguard this country mr president mr vice president thank you for your leadership attorney general [10:51] and homeland secretary mullin thank you for your partnership in law enforcement okay we'll do a [10:56] couple and then we go to the chief madam chairman oh i just want to say you did a fantastic job [11:04] what a beautiful evening and we're going to reschedule that it's very tough for her to ask a killer [11:13] question right but you have done a fantastic job please um as you mentioned it all happened so quickly [11:23] i wonder especially fortunately you have experience with these sorts of threats in that moment when [11:32] you realize there was a threat and service agents were telling us to get down can you describe [11:40] what was going through your mind how you were feeling in that moment that's a very good question [11:46] actually it was uh it's always shocking when something like this happens happened to me [11:51] a little bit and uh that never changes the fact we were sitting right next to each other [11:58] first lady on my right and i heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray i thought it was a [12:06] tray going down you know i've heard that many times and it was pretty loud noise [12:10] and it was from quite far away he hadn't breached the area at all they really got him but uh so it's [12:18] quite far away but it was a gun and some people uh really understood that pretty quickly other people [12:25] didn't i was watching to see what was happening probably should have gone down even faster melania was [12:34] very cognizant i think of what happened i think she knew immediately what happened she was saying [12:40] that's a bad noise and uh we were whisked away along with other people but we were really whisked away [12:50] and again the performance of the secret service and the police all of the law enforcement i thought [12:56] it was really good so it was very quick there wasn't a lot of time to be thinking because it was a matter [13:01] of seconds before we were out the door and gone into an area we very much and you wanted to too we very [13:08] much wanted to continue it because i don't like to let these sick people these thugs these horrible [13:14] horrible people change the fabric of our life change the course of what we do [13:19] so we hold held out you were there we held out right till the end but they didn't want to take a [13:24] chance and i understand it was protocol but we're going to be doing one hopefully within the next 30 days [13:30] or sooner and i am ready willing and able and i was all set to really rip it and i said to my people [13:38] this would be the most inappropriate speech ever made if i said so i have to save it i don't know if [13:43] i could ever be as rough as i was going to be tonight i think i'm going to be probably very nice i'll [13:49] be very boring the next time but we're going to have a great event and you did a fantastic job thank you very [13:54] much peter thank you president trump uh there's a report in the new york post that this assailant [14:00] assembled his weapon somewhere on site at the hotel what do you think about that and i ask respectfully [14:10] why do you think this keeps happening to you well you know i've studied assassinations and i must tell [14:21] you the most impactful people the people that do the most you take a look at the people abraham [14:29] lincoln i mean you go through the people that have gone through this where they got them but [14:36] the people that do do the most the people that make the biggest impact they're the ones that they go [14:42] after they don't go after the ones that don't do much because they like it that way and when you look [14:48] at the people that have either whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt they're very impactful [14:56] people just take a look at the names here the big names and i hate to say i'm [15:03] honored by that but i've done a lot we've done a lot we have we've taken this country and we were a [15:09] laughing stock for years and now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world we've changed this [15:14] country and there are a lot of people that are not happy about that so i think that's the answer [15:19] peter and after butler your team for a while rethought outdoor events yeah do you think that you now need [15:25] to rethink no well but then you just don't do events now i can't do that i have to what you know it is [15:31] what it is we have to do it the room was very very secure you know he charged from 50 yards away [15:38] so he was very far away from the room and what do you think when you saw the video of how fast he was [15:42] running he was moving he was really moving and the reaction time was great boy those guys they had [15:48] their guns drawn literally by the time he was there they were shooting that's right they were i thought [15:53] they were very impressive i thought they were very impressive and if i didn't i'd let you know you know [15:58] i'm not going to be i would not stand for that no i thought they were very impressive thank you [16:04] president trump and thank you for for updating us on the suspect earlier were you aware of any threats [16:10] where is your team aware of any threats beforehand and do you believe you were the target of this [16:14] tonight i guess i mean these people are they're crazy they're crazy and you know you never know [16:19] it was very far away from me i had to go through a lot you know we had we had resources all over we had [16:26] resources sitting at tables literally in disguise sitting maybe at your table who knows but we had [16:33] we had people all over the room so he had a long way to go that was really a first line of defense [16:38] and they got him and they really you know they acted incredibly no we have we've had no there was no [16:45] notification we had no idea go ahead do you have any provisions from this well you never know we'll be [16:51] able to tell you that maybe by tomorrow or the next day you know he's in custody and they're asking him a lot [16:58] of questions i guess they're going over todd and they're they're already at his apartment he lives [17:04] in california and they'll be they're over there so they'll be able to tell you thank you caitlin [17:13] did the suspect say anything or was he wearing anything that would [17:18] allege some type of motive here nothing no i mean he was uh a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down [17:26] you know they had him down he was fighting hard he was an obvious in my opinion a sick person who [17:32] would do that but a sick person but i think you're going to find everything about him no reason to talk [17:37] about it now but tomorrow at this time long before this time you're going to know a lot of things [17:42] about him he was a they seemed to think he was a lone wolf and i feel that too are you concerned about [17:48] u.s secret service protection ability we saw several of the detailies take minutes to be [17:53] escorted out the room no they acted very quickly no i was very impressed by secret service i mean [17:59] i'm the one and mark when you would agree with that i think i'm the one that uh would complain you [18:05] don't have to complain for me i would be complaining i'd be up here right now saying they didn't do their [18:09] job oh believe me because you know it's my life and i want to live because i want to make this country [18:15] great that's why i want to live but when you're impactful they go after you when you're not impactful they [18:21] leave you alone okay a couple of a couple of more go ahead please is there any indication that this [18:29] this shooting was could have been linked to the war in iran i don't think so but you never know we're [18:37] going to know a lot well we have the best people in the world working on it and we're going to know a [18:42] lot please mr president there's a lot there's um you as well as some of us who have covered butler [18:49] experienced another horrific day two years ago yeah what's what felt similar you know you had the [18:57] first lady with you today what felt different and you have another two plus years in office [19:03] are you concerned about something like this happening well i can't be concerned i i can only [19:07] get great people they did the job uh a much in my opinion a much better job than butler butler had one [19:13] weak spot that we all know about somebody should have been up there but even butler [19:17] uh we had a uh our sniper sniper on our side within 4.2 seconds from a distance of about 400 yards [19:31] one shot and he was gone and if he didn't do now you know he's david his name was david i say hello [19:40] david every time i see him david i like you very much david but think of that now if he doesn't hit him [19:46] and he hit him right between the eyes from 400 yards without any notice nobody knew he heard a [19:52] sound he looked over and there was actually a tree that was somewhat in his way you know the story very [19:57] well and he aimed he fired and if he didn't do that beyond me you would have had a lot more people killed [20:05] who lost one great person and two people very badly hurt they're okay now but uh no that was so in a [20:12] a sense you know they it was pretty amazing the job they did but but uh but they did have that one [20:18] weak spot as you know they should have had that covered tonight they had everything covered very [20:23] quickly and he was fast he was running full blast and they got him uh before they got any further i was [20:29] very far away you know he was he hadn't anywhere close to breach the doors of the ballroom the ballroom [20:34] was sealed and everybody in there that's why once those doors opened they didn't want to do tonight if [20:41] the doors weren't opened we could have probably done it tonight but i think we're much better off [20:45] rescheduling yeah please president for you and perhaps law enforcement as well what is the level [20:51] of confidence that this was a lone actor and has the suspect made any statements to police while in [20:58] custody i think it's just my look at some my profession we have great professionals up here and outside that [21:04] have been working with us uh my impression is he was a a lone wolf uh whack job these are crazy [21:11] people these are crazy people and they have to be dealt with we had that in the second attempt [21:18] as you know and he's he's spending life in prison because if you let him out they'll probably you [21:24] know you if he serves 10 years or 15 years you let him out he'll probably try it again with somebody else [21:29] they're sick people we have a lot of sick people but you're going to know uh i think very shortly you're [21:35] going to know todd uh a lot about him you're going to know a lot about him yeah a couple of more [21:41] questions yeah please go ahead are you concerned about political violence this could be politically [21:52] violence i'm concerned about everything but i can't be so concerned that you can't function no i'm here [22:00] it's a dangerous profession you know i tell the story race car drivers i think it's very dangerous [22:07] so if you take one percent and then take about ten percent of one percent just to break it down very [22:16] easily they die so much less than one percent ten percent of one percent i think bull riding is very [22:24] dangerous if you take about the same ten percent of one percent much less than one percent but if you take [22:31] presidents it's five point eight percent and about eight percent are shot at so nobody told me this was [22:41] such a dangerous profession if marco would have told me maybe i wouldn't have run maybe i would have said [22:47] i'll take a pass no it's a dangerous profession but i don't view it that way look i'm here to do a job [22:54] as part of the job it is a dangerous it's i can't imagine that there's any profession that's more [23:00] dangerous but i love the country and i'm very proud i'm very proud of the job we've done you see [23:05] what's happened we have a great country we've got i think the most successful the hottest country [23:10] anywhere in the world this happened over a period of just a year and we're going to do great things [23:15] but with that come risks there's no question about it yeah i mean there's been so much political [23:22] violence not just aimed at yourself but at other members of you know members of congress state house [23:28] speakers you name it is that just the cost of doing business to do politics in america anymore [23:33] yeah well what does that say about our country yeah we're not the only country you look at this [23:36] great violence with all countries i was talking to somebody from another country today and they have [23:45] numerous assassinations of political figures all over the world you look at south america and south [23:50] americans like some of the numbers are just horrific it's dangerous dangerous stuff whether it's here or [23:56] someplace else no country is immune no country good question at this point well probably if i decided to [24:06] just not do much you know if i let everybody rip us off and take advantage of us look we're leading [24:13] the world in trade now we're leading the world in the military we're the greatest military in the world [24:17] i rebuilt it in my first term and now we use it because we have no choice we can't let as an example [24:23] iran we can't let them get a nuclear weapon that'll everything will be peanuts compared to that if they [24:29] ever were given a nuclear weapon and they'd use it too marco and i were talking about it today they [24:35] would use it without even hesitation we can't do that it was a shame i said oh boy look at the numbers [24:41] we just broke 50 000 in the dow we just broke 7 000 the s p they said we couldn't do it in seven years [24:47] five years four years they were saying maybe in five or six years and we did it in one year and i [24:54] called everybody together i called all of these people and others and i said we have to take a [25:00] little journey i seek to do this we just had the great number we just broke 50 000 wasn't supposed to [25:05] happen during my term wasn't reachable we did it in one year and i said we're gonna have to make a [25:12] journey to iran they they're gonna have a nuclear weapon if we don't do it we had the b2 bombers take them [25:17] out i terminated in the first term the obama agreement the iran nuclear agreement which was [25:24] a disaster that was a road to a nuclear weapon they would have used it they would have used it a [25:27] hundred percent so you know when you do things like that you become a target if i wasn't doing that i [25:33] guess i'd be a lot less of a target but i'm honored to be okay one more question yeah go ahead thank you [25:45] president trump thank you president trump do you know how the gun was brought into the hotel and [25:51] also how does this event impact you as the leader of our country do you think it will change i like [25:56] not to think about it uh i lead a pretty normal life considering you know it's a dangerous life [26:03] i think i'm i think i handle it as well as as well as it can be handled i think a lot of other people [26:09] you know you read stories where they become basket cases to be honest with you i'm not a basket case [26:13] i i take is really take it as it is i do it for the country i'm not doing it for any other reason [26:19] i have a first lady who's doing a terrific job she loves the country and uh she recognizes it [26:26] better than anybody she's told me numerous times she said you are in a dangerous job but that goes [26:32] along with her too i mean it's dangerous for her too we sat there tonight we heard that noise and [26:39] it was either a tray or a bullet i thought i was hoping it was a tray but it wasn't and again [26:47] we had some very brave people doing a great job so we're very proud of them and happy with them [26:51] i just want to thank everybody they will be able to give you all that information as to [26:57] the names and everything else most of i think we released the names already most most of you would [27:02] have it but his name we appreciate it i see so many tuxedos and beautiful dresses [27:09] it was a little different evening than we thought but we're going to do it again and we're going to [27:14] we have a great chairman who who we're so proud of and we have to make it better we'll make it safer [27:21] i guess right but we're going to make it even better okay thank you very much thank you [27:25] for all of the people across the globe in fact are watching you uh you demonstrated courageous [27:43] leadership and thank god you're alive all of us that are alive today what are the message that you want [27:48] to give to the world that this should change what corrective measures can we take from here on [27:54] well all you can do look i don't care how many people you have how good they are they can be the [28:00] greatest people you have the greatest security in history if you have a whack job who's got a brain but [28:07] it's a little bit distorted or a lot distorted they can make trouble i would say pete right you know they [28:13] can make trouble some of these people are of genius level iq and they're nuts so it can be trouble so [28:23] you do absolutely the best you get the best we have the best people well look they it it was proven [28:28] tonight he he started running from 50 yards and he was fast it was like a blur on tape he was moving [28:37] they turned it was very impressive the way they got him because a lot of people would be looking and saying [28:42] you know it's like a weird feeling and they would let him get through but they didn't let him get [28:49] through they they drew those guns so fast looked like they looked like matt dylan they looked like [28:55] somebody that knew what they were doing we really do but it comes with the territory and if you want [29:01] to do a great job i really believe that and i you take a look at what's happened to some of our greatest [29:06] presidents and it doesn't happen to people that don't do anything and it's not going to deter me from [29:14] winning the war in iran i don't know if that had anything to do with i really don't think so [29:20] based on what we know but uh we're going to continue to do a great job that's all i can do [29:27] thank you very much we'll see you tomorrow thank you thank you