Trump briefly taken to White House bunker as protests loom

Shealah Craighead/White House

President Donald Trump was briefly taken into a secure White House bunker beaneath the East Wing, known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center on Friday, following the protests over the death of George Floyd.

The New York Times reported that “Secret Service agents abruptly rushed the president to the underground bunker used in the past during terrorist attacks.”

The bunker was the same one used on the 9/11 attacks that sheltered vice president Dick Cheney in 2001. The Times reports that “The president and his family were rattled by their experience on Friday night, according to several advisers.”

Dick Cheney in the bunker during 9/11 - National Archives

CNN later reported that the President was in the bunker for a little under an hour before being brought back up, and a CNN source said Trump was accompanied by the first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron Trump.

Another source told CNN that "if the condition at the White House is elevated to RED and the President is moved" to the Emergency Operations Center "Melania Trump, Barron Trump and any other first family members would be moved as well."

Later, the president praised the Secret Service for their work and handling of the protests in a series of tweets.