Footage taken during the press gala in Washington, D.C., as gunshots rang out outside the venue, shows Vice President JD Vance being the first to be escorted to safety. It took another twenty seconds before President Donald Trump also disappeared backstage. This has raised many questions, but the explanation is actually much more mundane.

The sequence of images is crystal clear. Barely seconds after the gunshots, as everyone jumps, several agents rush in and drag Vance from the stage where he is seated. One of them even walks past the president and the First Lady without so much as a glance.

Meanwhile, an agent also appeared behind Donald Trump. While Vance had already left the scene, a second one arrived, and it took another five seconds before several armed agents took up positions around President Trump.

Only then is he escorted backstage, but he seems to stumble and fall. In total, it takes a good twenty seconds before Trump disappears in turn.

20 seconds to evacuate Trump

“In an interview with 60 Minutes, Trump said Monday morning that it was partly his fault the evacuation took so long: “I wanted to see what was going on,” he explained. “I didn’t make it easy for them. I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little slower because I was saying, ‘Wait, wait, let me watch.’”

Trump also claims that he did not trip, but that he was in fact ordered by agents to lie on the floor, as was the First Lady. “Then I got up and we were led for a while into a secure room.”

To each their own team

According to Anthony Guglielmi, head of communications for the Secret Service, everything unfolded according to strict protocol. Trump and Vance have their own security teams — which is why a member of Vance's team walked past the president without paying him any attention — and Vance's team simply reacted faster.

Mark Herrera, of the security firm Global Awareness Professionals (GAP), confirmed to Newsweek that the fact that Vance was evacuated first does not mean that he was a priority over Trump.

“Vance was probably in a position that allowed for a quick and safe evacuation, while the president’s team needed a few seconds to protect him and assess the threat before they could move him,” he contextualizes.

A source within the Secret Service told the news channel MS NOW that Trump's team considered the ballroom secure at that point. All the doors were guarded by armed agents, and the suspect had already been subdued.

“Presidential walk”

The head of the security team then took a moment to ensure that Secret Service personnel were in position to escort the president through a secure walkway. This "presidential walk" was designed by the Hilton Hotel and the Secret Service after the assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton in 1981.