July 14, 2025 • 7 mins
Mendte in the Morning talks to Reagan Reese about the one year anniversary of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, PA.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now let's get to Reagan Reese, who is the
White House correspondent for the Daily Caller, an independent women's
foreign visiting fellow. I like so much, Reagan that you
wrote an article for the Daily Caller that people can
read at the Dailycoller dot com that was entitled one
year later, questions remain about Butler despite Trump being very
(00:22):
satisfied with the investig investigation. You know, it's interesting to
me that he said very satisfied. It seems to me
that in his second term, you know, he's certainly not
your standard politician, never will be, but he's become a
little more buttoned down, a more a little bit more
political than he was in the first term. Because I
(00:45):
can't imagine he was truly very satisfied with the investigation,
mainly because Reagan, nobody else is. There are still so
many questions out there, aren't there.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, So he said about ten days ago, he told
me on the tarmac, it was midnight, We're at joint
Bass Andrews. And I asked him, you know, do you
know more now than you did at the time of
the assassination attempt? And he told me that he had
been meeting with his FBI, a secret service, and that
he had become very satisfied with what they have told
(01:21):
him in the official narrative on his assassination attempt. And I,
instead of you know, following up with a legitimate question,
genuinely let out a you are like a surprised, You're
really satisfied. I was completely shocked with the answer, because
just months earlier, he had said that he was not
(01:43):
comfortable with what his FBI and a secret service was
telling him. He felt like the whole thing was a
bit strange. And then days after he had said that,
Dan Bongino went on Fox News and said, there's no
there there with this assassination attempt. You know, there is
no conspiracy. This guy wasn't working with other people. It's
(02:04):
exactly what we have presented you with. It's exactly how
it looks. And so I think it comes as a surprise.
And perhaps it was Donald Trump trying to take the
heat off his FBI and his administration for not being
able to dig up more. I'm that's likely to be
what has happened there, but it was I think it's
been completely surprising his change in tune over the last
(02:27):
couple of months because he's clearly still shaken up by it,
and I mean, who wouldn't be. He took a bullet
to the head, that is, it's absolutely crazy, and that's
why I think, you know, he shouldn't be satisfied.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He should be pressing for more answers.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Absolutely. I mean, there's so many things, but the one
that sticks with me the most, and it probably isn't
the most egregious mistake or something that may have been hidden,
was the fact that they cremated the body before the
state medical examiner could take a look at it. And
he had called several times and said I want to
(03:01):
see the body, and then they cremated it and they
told him, no, we did the investigation. It's fine. And
he said that was unprecedented, that it never happened until
this day. He's upset about it, and I can't believe
there's a good answer for that question. Reagan.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, I don't have many answers, as many people don't
on that point. I thought Trump's answer over the weekend
when he sat down with Lara Trump, he said something
to the effect of that his Secret Service just had
a bad.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Day, and you know, it could have happened to anybody.
And that they just had a bad day. And so
I assume that the administration st answered.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Their explanation for all of that and all these fishy
things that went on with the assassination attempt is that
it was a mistake and that you know, they've never
been in this situation before, and there was no specific protocol.
People were shaken up except and I don't think that
is good enough.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I mean, it is, it's regardless.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I mean, President Trump were so lucky that Donald Trump survived,
but there was still death that day in Butler. And therefore,
I still think that there should be a push to
get answers for the loss of life that was suffered
at the Butler rally.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, amen to that. You know, I just want to
talk a little bit about all the video we've seen
over and over again this past weekend, and I'm still
amazed by it. I'm still amazed by what happened, how
lucky he was that he turned his head at the
right moment. But even more than that, when they after
the second shot went off and he was pushed down
to the ground and he got up and nobody left
(04:48):
like in something like that all of the time, every
single time, there's been shots fired at an event like that,
at a concert and something like that, everybody runs for
the hills or ducks down or gets somewhere else. Nobody
in that crowd left, and he seemed to see that
when he stood up, which is why he raised his fist.
(05:09):
I don't know if he talks about that moment a lot,
if he talks about what went through his head, if
he noticed that everybody was still there and he had
to reassure them, but it was one of the most
iconic moments in history.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I'm actually going through Selena Zito's book Butler right now.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
She's a columnist for The Washington Examiner.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
She came and spoke at my alma mater, Hillshille College
when I was a junior in college. And I was
really captivated by her writing style because she does not
take any mode of public transportation.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
She only takes back roads. And she does this so
she can really get to know the towns that really
get to know America.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
And she stops in these dive bars and restaurants, and
so she's this really incredible journalist. And she was there
at the Butler Rally, and she was set to fly
to Bedminster with the president after the rally to interview him.
He loved Selena, one of his favorite journalists, and that
obviously got thrown out when the assassination attempt happened. And
(06:13):
she said that he called her seven times on after
the assassination and the one thing that he kept talking
about was the fact that nobody ran, and he.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Kept saying, like, Selena, can you believe it? Can you
believe no one stampeded? And she also mentions in the
book because she had to.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Hold up the site for quite a while, you know,
secret Service wanted to make sure she was safe. She
would try to peek out of the curtain where they
had her, and she expected to see chaos or people running.
And there was almost like a weird piece amongst the crowd,
and that is certainly divine.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And they wanted to see if he was okay, and
I'm sure that's what it was. They were more concerned
with him than they were about themselves at that point,
and that's why his followers in the MAGA crowd is
so Reagan Reefs, white House correspondent for The Daily Caller
and Independent Women's Foreign Visiting Fellow, talk to you again
next week. That was wonderful, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Talk soon, YEP.
And now let's get to Reagan Reese, who is the
White House correspondent for the Daily Caller, an independent women's
foreign visiting fellow. I like so much, Reagan that you
wrote an article for the Daily Caller that people can
read at the Dailycoller dot com that was entitled one
year later, questions remain about Butler despite Trump being very
(00:22):
satisfied with the investig investigation. You know, it's interesting to
me that he said very satisfied. It seems to me
that in his second term, you know, he's certainly not
your standard politician, never will be, but he's become a
little more buttoned down, a more a little bit more
political than he was in the first term. Because I
(00:45):
can't imagine he was truly very satisfied with the investigation,
mainly because Reagan, nobody else is. There are still so
many questions out there, aren't there.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, So he said about ten days ago, he told
me on the tarmac, it was midnight, We're at joint
Bass Andrews. And I asked him, you know, do you
know more now than you did at the time of
the assassination attempt? And he told me that he had
been meeting with his FBI, a secret service, and that
he had become very satisfied with what they have told
(01:21):
him in the official narrative on his assassination attempt. And I,
instead of you know, following up with a legitimate question,
genuinely let out a you are like a surprised, You're
really satisfied. I was completely shocked with the answer, because
just months earlier, he had said that he was not
(01:43):
comfortable with what his FBI and a secret service was
telling him. He felt like the whole thing was a
bit strange. And then days after he had said that,
Dan Bongino went on Fox News and said, there's no
there there with this assassination attempt. You know, there is
no conspiracy. This guy wasn't working with other people. It's
(02:04):
exactly what we have presented you with. It's exactly how
it looks. And so I think it comes as a surprise.
And perhaps it was Donald Trump trying to take the
heat off his FBI and his administration for not being
able to dig up more. I'm that's likely to be
what has happened there, but it was I think it's
been completely surprising his change in tune over the last
(02:27):
couple of months because he's clearly still shaken up by it,
and I mean, who wouldn't be. He took a bullet
to the head, that is, it's absolutely crazy, and that's
why I think, you know, he shouldn't be satisfied.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He should be pressing for more answers.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Absolutely. I mean, there's so many things, but the one
that sticks with me the most, and it probably isn't
the most egregious mistake or something that may have been hidden,
was the fact that they cremated the body before the
state medical examiner could take a look at it. And
he had called several times and said I want to
(03:01):
see the body, and then they cremated it and they
told him, no, we did the investigation. It's fine. And
he said that was unprecedented, that it never happened until
this day. He's upset about it, and I can't believe
there's a good answer for that question. Reagan.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, I don't have many answers, as many people don't
on that point. I thought Trump's answer over the weekend
when he sat down with Lara Trump, he said something
to the effect of that his Secret Service just had
a bad.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Day, and you know, it could have happened to anybody.
And that they just had a bad day. And so
I assume that the administration st answered.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Their explanation for all of that and all these fishy
things that went on with the assassination attempt is that
it was a mistake and that you know, they've never
been in this situation before, and there was no specific protocol.
People were shaken up except and I don't think that
is good enough.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I mean, it is, it's regardless.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I mean, President Trump were so lucky that Donald Trump survived,
but there was still death that day in Butler. And therefore,
I still think that there should be a push to
get answers for the loss of life that was suffered
at the Butler rally.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, amen to that. You know, I just want to
talk a little bit about all the video we've seen
over and over again this past weekend, and I'm still
amazed by it. I'm still amazed by what happened, how
lucky he was that he turned his head at the
right moment. But even more than that, when they after
the second shot went off and he was pushed down
to the ground and he got up and nobody left
(04:48):
like in something like that all of the time, every
single time, there's been shots fired at an event like that,
at a concert and something like that, everybody runs for
the hills or ducks down or gets somewhere else. Nobody
in that crowd left, and he seemed to see that
when he stood up, which is why he raised his fist.
(05:09):
I don't know if he talks about that moment a lot,
if he talks about what went through his head, if
he noticed that everybody was still there and he had
to reassure them, but it was one of the most
iconic moments in history.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I'm actually going through Selena Zito's book Butler right now.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
She's a columnist for The Washington Examiner.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
She came and spoke at my alma mater, Hillshille College
when I was a junior in college. And I was
really captivated by her writing style because she does not
take any mode of public transportation.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
She only takes back roads. And she does this so
she can really get to know the towns that really
get to know America.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
And she stops in these dive bars and restaurants, and
so she's this really incredible journalist. And she was there
at the Butler Rally, and she was set to fly
to Bedminster with the president after the rally to interview him.
He loved Selena, one of his favorite journalists, and that
obviously got thrown out when the assassination attempt happened. And
(06:13):
she said that he called her seven times on after
the assassination and the one thing that he kept talking
about was the fact that nobody ran, and he.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Kept saying, like, Selena, can you believe it? Can you
believe no one stampeded? And she also mentions in the
book because she had to.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Hold up the site for quite a while, you know,
secret Service wanted to make sure she was safe. She
would try to peek out of the curtain where they
had her, and she expected to see chaos or people running.
And there was almost like a weird piece amongst the crowd,
and that is certainly divine.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And they wanted to see if he was okay, and
I'm sure that's what it was. They were more concerned
with him than they were about themselves at that point,
and that's why his followers in the MAGA crowd is
so Reagan Reefs, white House correspondent for The Daily Caller
and Independent Women's Foreign Visiting Fellow, talk to you again
next week. That was wonderful, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Talk soon, YEP.
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