Trump abruptly escorted from briefing after shooting near White House
Washington: US President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted by a US Secret Service agent out of a live press briefing on coronavirus as a precautionary measure, after a shooting incident outside the White House.
Following the incident on Monday, Trump minutes later returned for the news conference and said things were under control.
"White House seems to be very well under control. I would like to thank the Secret Service for doing their --always quick and very effective work but there was an actual shooting and somebody has been taken to the hospital, Trump told reporters as he resumed the press briefing.
"I don't know the condition of the person. It seems that the person was shot by Secret Service. So we will see what happens," Trump said.
The incident happened soon after Trump started speaking inside the James Brady press briefing room of the White House.
As he was making his opening statement and talking about NASDAQ and economy, a top secret service agent reached out to him and requested him to leave the briefing room.
The secret service was seen saying something into his ears, after which the President, calm and composed, walked out of the briefing room.
Trump later told the reporters that he was taken to the Oval Office.
"We were taken just out over to the Oval Office," he said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was also in the briefing room.
Amidst confusion as Trump left the briefing room for several minutes, the Secret Service in a tweet confirmed the incident, saying "There has been an officer involved shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. Law enforcement officials are on the scene".
"The investigation into a USSS officer involved shooting is ongoing. A male subject and a USSS officer were both transported to a local hospital. At no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger, the Secret Service said in another tweet an hour later.
Trump told reporters that the incident happened outside the White House complex.
"It was outside of the White House in this area right over here and they will have details for you in a little while. Somebody is taken to the hospital. It seems that the shooting was done by the law enforcement at that person, at the suspect, he said.
It was the suspect who was shot and this just took place. A couple of people outside I noticed a man named John Roberts who you know very well he reported that he heard shots. He was outside and he heard two shots, he added.
Trump praised Secret Service for their professionalism. Responding to a question, Trump said that he was not rattled.
"It's unfortunate that this is a world but the world has always been a dangerous place; it's not something that is unique. The world has been--you look back over the centuries the world has been a dangerous place, very dangerous place and it will continue I guess for a period of time, he said.
Trump said that he feels very safe with Secret Service.
"They are fantastic people. They are the best of the best, and they are highly trained. I don't know if anybody got to walk outside, but there were a lot of terrific looking people ready to go if something was necessary. People at the highest level of law enforcement there's nobody like these people, so they just wanted me to step aside for a little while just to make sure that everything was cleared outside because it was right in this area, he said.
"I didn't even think about not coming back (for the news conference). I said am I able to go back and they said you have to wait a little while. I waited a little while as you know in the Oval Office area and I said, can I get back now and they said yes, and they have a lot of fortification outside just in case, but it was one person, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
3 US troops killed, 5 seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
Washington (AP): Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military said Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that has sparked retaliation from the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
Central Command described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
The US military also denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn't even come close.”
President Donald Trump had warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future.”
Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran's counterattacks have struck US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.
Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.
The Ford was part of the US raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven US troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.
One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump's State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.
Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.
The US military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country's government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.
