President Trump asked if he wears a bulletproof vest, see his answer
President Donald Trump joked that he was wearing a bulletproof vest when asked about being shot.
Amid renewed scrutiny over his personal safety, President Donald Trump said he resists the idea of wearing a bulletproof vest, not for safety reasons but for aesthetic reasons.
Asked during an April 30 Oval Office press conference whether he had considered wearing a body armor, Trump said the issue was primarily an aesthetic one.
“I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier,” Trump told reporters.
The debate resurfaced in the wake of the April 25 shooting inside the Hilton Hotel during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Prosecutors said in an April 29 court filing that Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., fired a shotgun into the stairs leading to the ballroom area before he was arrested.
On Sunday, April 26, Fox News’ senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy said the vest is one of several “major security improvements” being considered following recent incidents involving President Trump’s safety.
President Trump’s assassination attempt and its horrors
Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts, threats and serious security threats since his first presidential election in 2016.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, authorities investigated two incidents involving his safety. One was an assassination attempt while he was playing golf at a club in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the other was in Butler, Pennsylvania.
There have been several security incidents during President Trump’s 2016 campaign, including incidents in Nevada and Ohio where law enforcement intervened after armed or disruptive individuals approached campaign events, authorities said at the time.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
