Trump praises arrest of ‘troubled person’ at White House

POTOMAC FALLS, Va. — President Donald Trump said Saturday the U.S. Secret Service did a “fantastic job” apprehending a “troubled person” who got onto the White House grounds after climbing a fence on the east side of the property while Trump was inside the executive mansion.

It was the first known security breach at the White House since Trump took office nearly two months ago.

Washington, D.C., police identified the intruder as 26-year-old Jonathan Tran of Milpitas, California.

When approached by a Secret Service officer on the south grounds about 11:38 p.m. Friday and asked whether he had a pass authorizing him to be in the restricted area, Tran replied, “No, I am a friend of the president. I have an appointment,” the police report said. Asked how he got there, he said he “jumped the fence.”

The Secret Service said in a statement the intruder had climbed an outer perimeter fence near the Treasury Department and East Executive Avenue. He was arrested without further incident, and no hazardous materials were found in his backpack, the agency said.

“Secret Service did a fantastic job last night,” Trump said Saturday from his golf club in Northern Virginia. He described the intruder as a “troubled person” and “very sad.” He was briefed on the matter Friday night.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also was briefed on the incident, the Secret Service said. Kelly was among several Cabinet secretaries and senior White House staff members who attended a working lunch with the president at the Trump National Golf Club.

The Secret Service said a search of the north and south White House grounds found “nothing of concern to security operations.” Standard practice is to turn intruders over to the local police department.

A series of security lapses took place during the eight years that Barack Obama was president. An especially embarrassing breach came in September 2014 when an Army veteran with mental health issues scaled a fence on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House and made it into the East Room before the Secret Service could apprehend him.

The Obamas were not at home at the time. The incident was one of several breakdowns by the Secret Service that ultimately led to the resignation of the agency’s director, Julia Pierson, the following month.