- The Speaker of the House of Representatives was on his way to Mar-a-Lago when shots were fired
- He said Trump was in a “good mood” shortly afterward
House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed a number of private interactions with Donald Trump on Monday, shortly after a gunman pointed a high-powered rifle at the former president while he was golfing at his Florida course.
Johnson, who was en route to Mar-a-Lago when officers opened fire and posted a photo with Trump after the shocking assassination attempt, said he and his wife Kelly spoke to Trump about what he called “Providence” and that Trump’s life would be spared.
“He was in a really good mood, as you would expect, that’s who he is. He’s so resilient and really grateful to see him,” Johnson said.
“There is no leader in American history who has been so attacked and yet remained so strong and resilient,” Johnson said told Fox News Monday morning. “He’s unique. Isn’t he going to stop fighting for the American people? It was really encouraging for us to sit down and talk to him right after that happened.”
Johnson was asked about Trump’s earlier comments in which he said his life was spared when he turned his head to look at a large screen at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman opened fire on him, the bullet grazing his ear.
He said he arrived at Trump’s Florida club shortly after the former president returned from his golf course.
Johnson, an evangelical Christian, said it was not luck that Trump survived, after authorities say a Secret Service agent protecting Trump spotted the suspect and fired at him. Police quickly arrested Ryan Wesley Routh on I-95 after an alert man identified someone who fled the scene after throwing a gun.
House Speaker Mike Johnson visited former President Donald Trump shortly after the assassination attempt in West Palm Beach on Sunday
“It’s remarkable. And Kelly and I have talked to him about it at length. Because it’s something that no one can deny. God spared his life twice now,” Johnson said.
“I told him it reminded me of the bulletproof George Washington, our first president, who escaped a hail of bullets from an army colonel, and the famous incident in the French and Indian War where they all shot at him and put bullet holes through his jacket but didn’t take him down. That incident ironically occurred less than 50 miles from where President Trump was shot on stage in Butler, Pennsylvania,” he said.
Johnson and his wife Welly visited Trump, who was still wearing golf shoes after the shooting
Johnson, an evangelical Christian, thanked God for protecting Trump. He also credited an alert Secret Service agent
“These are not accidents. They are not luck. I believe it is Providence and we have talked about it. It is remarkable. It would touch any man’s heart. I think it has touched the President’s heart. And it is just something he is processing right now.”
Johnson demanded that Trump “make available all available resources for his protection” and described what he and Trump had learned in a phone call from the acting director of the Secret Service.
“And what I understand is that those officers that were with him yesterday, they saw that barrel of that gun through the bushes on a golf course. I mean, you know, it’s hard to see. Fortunately, unlike in Butler, they didn’t stand still. They immediately drew their weapons and fired.
He said the officers “immediately drew their weapons and fired,” causing the suspect to throw his own weapon into the bushes and run away.
Johnson demanded that Trump have “all available resources” at his disposal, specifically mentioning an “allocation of manpower.”
Johnson said he was fine with Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, deciding to let Florida conduct its own investigation, even as the FBI conducts its own. “We all need to investigate — local, state, feds.”
The speaker called himself “very optimistic about November” when asked whether Republicans would retain the House of Representatives. He said he and Trump had talked about making the victory “too big to manipulate” in all national elections — a statement that suggests election fraud.