What to Know
You might remember the video from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting that showed Secret Service agents swiftly removing Vice President JD Vance before removing President Donald Trump. When the video first went viral on social media, Trump seemingly shrugged it off, saying the delay was partly his own fault. However, people online had tons of other theories, and now, Trump has changed his story a bit.
While he initially didn’t seem to think anything of the fact that the VP was evacuated before he was, it appears like he sees the whole thing a bit differently now. When speaking about the incident, he commented on how agents removed Vance — but not him — super quickly.
He still praised the Secret Service agents, but his tone was interesting.
Trump on Secret Service: I saw them take JD Vance by the shoulders and lift him up like he was a little boy. How come they did not lift me up so fast? pic.twitter.com/p5VY70T1M2
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2026
Technically, he didn’t say anything negative about the agents or about VP Vance. But the phrasing he used suggests that he has been comparing himself to Vance. He even referred to Vance as “a little boy.”
“They had great professional people, and they came out within seconds,” he said at a Police Week event, per The Independent. “They had great professional people, and they came out within seconds.”
However, he couldn’t praise the agents without also mentioning that Vance was removed before he was, which makes it seem like he might be a bit more bothered than he originally let on.
Trump questioned, “How come they didn’t lift me up so fast?”
He recalled what happened in the footage that was circulating online after the shooting. “I saw them take JD by the shoulders and lift him up like he was a little boy,” he said. “I said, ‘How come they didn’t lift me up so fast?’ They lifted JD — got ripped out of the chair. That was a view of the week, but they did the job, JD, right? I think so.”
Vance truly was just whisked away, while removing Trump seemed to be more of a challenge. At one point, he appeared to fall down, though he has denied this.
Interestingly, Trump previously acted like he knew why Vance was removed before he was.
"It took 10 seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic…"@POTUS: "It was a little bit me—I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn't making it that easy for them…I was surrounded by great people, and I probably… pic.twitter.com/PaenM7lMfb
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 26, 2026
During his 60 Minutes interview after the incident, Norah O’Donnell asked Trump what was happening in that moment, given that it took more time for him to be removed. “You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, bringing him out,” O’Donnell said at the time. “Then, the counterassault comes in, took 10 seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point, you were down. What was happening?”
At that point, Trump acted like he knew the reason for the delay, and actually said it was sort of his own fault. “Well, what happened was, it was a little bit me,” he said. “I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And, by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem. A different kind of a problem. A bad one…And I was surrounded by great people.”
He added, “And I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me see, wait a minute.'”
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