Police remove Michael Steven Sandford as Donald Trump speaks at the Treasure Island hotel and casino in Las Vegas on June 18, 2016. Sandford is accused of trying to take a police officer's gun and kill Trump during the weekend rally. | AP Photo Trump: I learned about assassination attempt through TV

When a British man allegedly tried to snatch the weapon of a Las Vegas police officer at the site of one of Donald Trump's rallies last Saturday with the intent to kill him, the presumptive Republican nominee says he was unaware of the incident until he saw media reports.

"He said in court he wanted to kill you," Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo said during a telephone interview with Trump on Wednesday morning, referring to a Secret Service agent's report filed in Nevada court on Monday. "When did you first learn about this?"


Trump responded, "Actually, I learned about it watching television. They didn’t tell me about it, and probably they’re better off not telling me about it."

"But I learned about it watching television, and I can tell you this: we have tremendous Secret Service and we have tremendous police throughout this country, and I think they did a fantastic job," he continued. "The policeman whose gun was tried to be, you know, stolen by this maniac, was really fantastic. And so police have done a great job, and Secret Service, these people are great. They don’t get the kind of credit they deserve. I deal with them all the time. I see them, I watch them, I know them and they’re terrific, terrific people."

"We do have protocols in place to notify the staff and/or the protectee when there is an incident," Secret Service communications director Cathy Milhoan told POLITICO. Milhoan declined to offer further details.

Asked specifically about reports that the man had overstayed his visa, Trump commented, "Well, that's what's happening. I mean, look, we have no law, we have no order when it comes to many things. I mean, we're just talking about immigration."

"Overstaying visas is a whole part of it," Trump said, speculating that there are "millions" of people currently overstaying their visas in the United States. "We have no idea who’s in our country. You’re going to have a very rude awakening one day in this country. We have no idea who’s in our country. "

