- Trump was keen on visiting the Capitol on January 6, said the head of his security detail that day.
- Trump was still pressing the issue while riding in the presidential armored car, said Robert Engel.
- Trump made his request even as his supporters wreaked havoc at the Capitol building.
Former President Donald Trump was eager to visit the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and even pressed his Secret Service detail to see if there was a way for him to make it there.
According to Politico, Robert Engel — a secret service agent and then-head of Trump's security detail — told Congress that Trump raised the idea of making the trip during a private conversation that day.
Engel testified that Trump made the request after leaving a rally at the Ellipse, where he had declared to his supporters that he was "going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue" and go "to the Capitol" with them.
Citing a person familiar with Engel's congressional testimony, Politico reported that Trump was still expressing an eagerness to visit the Capitol while being transported in the presidential armored car known as "The Beast."
Engel told the January 6 panel's investigators that he and the former president had "different views" on the issue and that the motorcade ultimately returned to the White House instead of heading to Capitol Hill.
According to The Washington Post's timeline of events on January 6, a pipe bomb was found at the Republican National Committee headquarters during Trump's speech at the Ellipse. Minutes later, Trump supporters were already clashing with police near the Capitol and entering restricted areas of the Capitol building.
It was revealed this week that the Secret Service made a last-minute plan to get Trump to the Capitol on January 6. However, their request to do so was denied by the DC police, who were overwhelmed by protests across the city.
Trump previously said that the Secret Service had shot down his plans to visit the Capitol. "Secret Service wouldn't let me," he told The Post in April. "I wanted to go. I wanted to go so badly. Secret Service says you can't go. I would have gone there in a minute."