Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

Former President Trump and JD Vance discuss the security failure during the attempt on Trump's life at a rally in Butler, Pa., last week. Trump disputes Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle's explanation that the shooter was on a "sloped roof" as a reason why there weren't any Secret Service agents atop the building.

Former President Trump and his 2024 running mate JD Vance sat down for their first joint interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday following the assassination attempt on the GOP nominee’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., last week.

Trump told "Jesse Watters Primetime" embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came to see him in the days following the assassination attempt.

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

"Somebody should have made sure there was nobody on that roof," he said.

The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots at the former president from the rooftop of a building roughly 130 yards away.

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

Investigators are piecing together how the 20-year-old local resident was able to gain a clear line of sight at Trump.

Eyewitness Michael Difrischia filmed Crooks lying down on top of the American Glass Research building, looking down the sights of an AR-style rifle.

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

"The problem was the police officers were too close to the building. They could not see him," he told "The Ingraham Angle" last week.

"We were trying to tell them he’s right there, he’s right there, but they just couldn’t see him."

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

Other eyewitnesses said they tried to warn police officers of a shooter before he fired the shots that grazed Trump’s ear, killed former Pennsylvania fire chief Corey Comperatore and injured David Dutch and James Copenhaven.

Trump told Watters he was surprised at how close Crooks was able to get.

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

"They said it's really, it's a -- a bad shot would usually hit the target. And so I mean, it's got to be, somebody's got to be there. And it's essentially a flat roof. I mean, I noticed that she [Cheatle] said, well, this is a slope roof where you think of like a barn where you have, this thing had just a little -- a little upswing in it, a few degrees. This was a not -- it essentially was a flat roof," he said.

Cheatle told ABC News last week the building the alleged shooter was on top of had a "sloped roof at its highest point."

Trump Disputes Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Explanation, Calls It 'Essentially a Flat Roof'

"And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof," she said.

Trump said he believes Cheatle was given "false information" when she mentioned the roof's slope as a reason why there weren’t any Secret Service agents atop the building.

The 2024 Republican nominee questioned why he wasn’t told to stay off the stage for 5-20 minutes before he came out and started speaking if there were concerns about a potential threat.

"You have to answer why couldn't I have stayed off the stage for five minutes while they do their work? Why couldn't, you know, how does a situation happen where a roof that's plainly in sight from the location where I was speaking… why would somebody not have seen that?" he asked.

Cheatle appeared on Capitol Hill Monday to answer for the security failures that almost led to the assassination of a former president.

She acknowledged the attempt on Trump’s life was the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.

Two ranking members of the House Oversight Committee, Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called on Cheatle to resign from her post in a letter following her testimony, saying she failed to "provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures."

Trump praised the actions of his Secret Service agents, who rushed to cover him after shots rang out at his rally.

He told Watters his ear is healing and getting better. "We're getting down to the small bandages. But it was a nasty one. And it was nasty, period. That was exactly one week ago from today, exactly. And, you know, when you think about it, it's -- that's been a lot of territory covered," he said.