For the first time in a long time, Donald Trump is staying out of the news in the wake of the mass shooting of police officers in Dallas.

But it turns out that it’s not for lack of trying.

The New York Daily News reports that Trump on Friday morning called up the New York Police Department and asked if he could speak to officers at a 3 p.m. roll call at the NYPD Midtown North Precinct.

ADVERTISEMENT

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, however, quickly nixed the idea.

“Our interest is staying out of the politics of the moment, and not to provide photo ops,” Bratton told reporters. “If Mr. Trump wants to speak to me, I would be happy to brief him on what we’re doing. If Sen. Clinton wants to speak to me, I would very happy to brief her on what we’re doing. But we are not in the business of providing photo ops for our candidates.”

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks, however, denies that Trump ever asked NYPD to address the roll call.

Trump spox Hope Hicks to me: "Mr. Trump and the campaign did not reach out with a request to address a roll call." https://t.co/nkmZhz4rSD — Nick Gass (@NickGass) July 8, 2016

ADVERTISEMENT

Trump first ran afoul of NYPD last year when his call to ban all Muslims from entering the country angered several of the department’s Muslim officers. Bratton at the time said, “We have thousands of Muslim employees in the department, who are basically like the rest of us, who are citizens of this country who are concerned.”