A top advisor to Donald Trump has revealed the “absolute chaos” behind the scenes after the attempted assassination of the president exactly one year ago.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted several pictures and videos he took leading up to the incident on July 13 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The president had no specific public plans to observe the milestone, though he did attend the FIFA Club World Cup in New Jersey along with the First Lady.
The White House also posted two videos to mark the day, one of which included interviews with the family of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who was killed in the shooting.
“One year later, there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about Butler,” Cheung wrote on X Sunday.
He said that after meeting with Vice President JD Vance at Trump’s Mar-Lago residence and taping a Fox News interview, the president’s motorcade traveled to Palm Beach Airport. From there, they flew to Pennsylvania.
“While on Trump Force One, we watched the pre-program speakers warming up the crowd at the Butler rally,” he wrote, also sharing a video of Trump getting introduced to the stage in Butler.
Shortly after, Trump was rushed to the ground by Secret Service agents after bullets rang out, with one clipping his ear and leaving him covered in blood. The president stood up and raised a defiant fist, while shouting “Fight!” repeatedly.
Cheung shared the aftermath.
“When we arrived at the hospital, it was absolute chaos,” he wrote on X. “Some media/reporters were grotesquely speculating something worse had happened (looking at you AP and Washington Post).
“We decided to put out a statement to reassure the President was OK.
“After the hospital, we motorcaded to the airport and held in a secure location until we could leave. This was what was playing on the tv screens as we watched the media coverage.”
Cheung added that when they finally went to board Air One to fly back to Bedminster, New Jersey, he had “never seen so much security and personnel.”
He was later informed that TIME Magazine planned to put a photo of Trump with his fist raised, taken by Associated Press photojournalist Evan Vucci, on their cover.
