White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to sidestep a question Wednesday on whether President Donald Trump was “satisfied” with the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s explanation of the assassination attempts against him, refusing to elaborate after Trump said the narrative seemed “a little bit strange.”
Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese pressed Leavitt on whether Trump was “satisfied” with Bongino’s recent assertion in a Fox News interview Sunday that “the ‘there’ you’re looking for is not there” regarding questions surrounding the attempts on Trump’s life.
“Well, in the lead up to your question, you answered your own question with the president’s own words, and I’ll leave it at that,” Leavitt responded, offering no further clarification.
Daily Caller White House Correspondent @reaganreese_: “Is the President personally satisfied with the investigations into the attempts on his life…or does he think there’s more to it?”
LEAVITT: “In the lead up to your question, you answered your own question with the… pic.twitter.com/8xd3vpA1T9
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 22, 2025
Trump previously told Fox News host Bret Baier that, while he trusts his team, he finds aspects of the official narrative questionable. “I’m relying on my people to tell me what it is … The Secret Service, they tell me it’s fine. But it’s a little hard to believe,” the president said. “It’s a little bit strange.” (RELATED: Patel and Bongino Give Firm Opinions On Whether Epstein Killed Himself)
Bongino told Maria Bartiromo that there wasn’t anything “explosive” about the attempts on Trump’s life, according to the National Review. “In some of these cases, the ‘there’ you’re looking for is not there. And I know people — I get it, I understand. It’s not there. If it was there, we would have told you,” he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel indicated in the same Fox interview that he thought Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide despite widespread public skepticism. Bongino was more direct.
Patel addressed the skeptics directly. “They have a right to their opinion, but as someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor, who’s been in that prison system, been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who’s been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was,” the director said.
“He killed himself,” Bongino said about Epstein. “Again, you want me to — I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself.”
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspect behind the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. “US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased,” U.S. Secret Service Chief of Communications Matthew Guglielmi said at the time.
Federal authorities charged Ryan Wesley Routh with trying to assassinate Trump in September 2024. He was allegedly spotted with a rife while the then-candidate was playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include specific allegations connected to the assassination attempts on Trump.
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