Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy has disclosed that there were “heated and physical clashes” between US Secret Service agents and Chinese officials during President Donald Trump’s three-day summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The incidents occurred behind the scenes of the seemingly seamless and choreographed public events.
Speaking to Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Doocy described a “very physical standoff” near the Temple of Heaven, where a Secret Service officer was prevented from carrying a weapon as part of the protective detail. The AFP’s Danny Kemp reported that Chinese security initially refused entry to an armed Secret Service agent accompanying the press pool, delaying their access to the temple complex by nearly half an hour.
Doocy also recounted his own experience of confusion, possibly due to language barriers, when he was ordered onto a bus that left immediately with only him and a driver who did not understand he wanted to get off. “After lots of shouting and pointing on the bus, and off the bus, we got where we needed to be,” he said.
In a separate incident, an unidentified White House aide was trampled by Chinese reporters during one of Trump’s meetings with Xi, leaving the staffer shaken and bruised. The incident was captured on video, with one American calling it a “s*** show.”
Before departing on Air Force One, US staff collected all badges and pins issued by China from reporters, along with their burner phones, placing them in a bin, highlighting the underlying tensions despite public expressions of mutual interest in strengthening ties.
