At 1:21 p.m., Trump met with his valet at the White House, logs say. At the Capitol, meanwhile, then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund begged for help from the National Guard as the crowd started to swell around the west side of the building and became increasingly violent.
By 2 p.m. the U.S. Capitol was locked down. At 2:11, Pence was evacuated. At 2:15, congressional leaders were evacuated.
He was in touch with lawmakers and he was, according to aides, watching the violence unfold on national television. And he was tweeting.
First Tweet at 2:28 after the Capitol was already under siege....
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
At 2:43, demonstrator Babbitt was shot trying to enter the House chamber through a window broken by the mob.
At 3:14 p.m. a Trump tweet at last made a sideways reference to the havoc. “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
At some point, he sequestered himself in the dining room off the Oval Office to watch the violence play out on TV, rewinding and re-watching some parts, according to former aides.
No official record has surfaced yet of what Trump was doing during this time. The next entry in Trump’s daily diary is not until 4:03 p.m., when he went out to the Rose Garden to tape a public address after frantic urging.
No calls for National Guard. No calls to Pence. Nothing. He's unfit for the office.
Trump's 8-hour gap: Minute-by-minute during Jan. 6 riot
Piecing together the activities of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, is no easy task. On the day of the Capitol riot that shook American democracy, there are no official White House phone notations from about 11 a.m. to about 7 p.m.
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