US official sources revealed, in statements to CNN, that President Donald Trump was transferred to the bunker of the White House (Emergency Operations Center), as protesters gathered outside the White House to protest the killing of the black American citizen George Floyd.
As protesters gathered outside the White House on Friday night, crossing a security barrier, Trump was taken to a fortified underground cellar, according to a White House official and a security source.
The White House official and the security source revealed that "the President was briefly transferred to an underground bunker in the White House," adding that he "stayed in the bunker for less than an hour before going up again".
The security source and another source familiar with the event said that First Lady Melania Trump and her son Baron were also transferred to the cache, and the security source explained that if the authorities move Trump, she will transfer all protected persons, according to the protocol, and this means Melania and Barron.
Another source said, "If the situation in the White House is raised to the red level, and the president is transferred to the Emergency Operations Center under the east wing of the White House, Melania Trump and Barron, and any other first-degree relatives will be transferred as well."
The New York Times reported for the first time that Trump had been transferred to the presidential hideout, apparently for his personal security.
Trump praised the Secret Service the next day over its handling of the protests.
In a previous series of tweets, Trump praised his Secret Service for his protection inside his fortified headquarters, stressing that he was feeling "completely safe" as protesters gathered outside.
The death of George Floyd, who appeared in a video struggling to catch his breath while a white police officer crouching his knee above his neck, sparked a wave of protests that started from Minneapolis and spread across the United States, interspersed with riots and violence that forced the National Guard forces to intervene.