Trump clarifies congressional incident, had asked to deploy 10,000 guards rejected

National Guard troops patrol outside the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021.

The Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol remains an unsolved mystery.

Former President Donald Trump (Trump) recently revealed some little-known details about the congressional riot and set the record straight on facts such as that he did not watch the riot live and that he had long asked for 10,000 guardsmen to be sent to Congress, but was rebuffed by Pelosi and others.

On Feb. 28, Trump was interviewed by Fox host Steve Hilton. Trump said his team informed the U.S. Department of Defense just days before the Jan. 6 rally that the rally in front of Congress could be larger than expected and that 10,000 National Guard troops should be deployed to Congress.

Trump added that the warning was also communicated to congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but Trump’s request was denied because those leaders said they did not like the idea of having tens of thousands of soldiers stationed at the Capitol.

Trump said, “So that (not deploying guards ahead of Time) was a big mistake.”

Earlier this month, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also corroborated this in a Fox News interview, saying that President Trump issued a “direct order” to deploy up to 10,000 guards.

Pelosi’s office and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry from Fox News.

In response to previous rumors that the Trump Family watched the Jan. 6 congressional riots live from a so-called “command center” on the day of the riots, Trump told Hilton that, contrary to the circulating reports, he did not watch the riots in real time and only began following them later when he learned of the chaos in Congress.

Trump also compared the congressional unrest to that occurring in cities like Portland and Seattle, saying he would hate to see riots, “I hate to see any of it, but this [the Democrats] is a double standard.”

Republicans say there is evidence that Democratic leaders were aware of the Jan. 6 congressional attack but did nothing to stop the threat.

In a Jan. 6 speech, Trump told supporters to protest “peacefully and patriotically.” But he was accused by Democrats of inciting a violent attack on the Capitol, then impeached by the House and eventually acquitted in the Senate.

But Pelosi then issued a statement asking Congress to establish an independent, September 11, 2001-style independent commission of inquiry into the January 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.