It reportedly took Trump multiple takes to tell rioters to leave Capitol in Jan. 6 video

In his upcoming book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent Jon Karl reports that, during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, former President Donald Trump didn't make it easy on his aides who produced the Twitter video in which he called on his supporters to go home.

At first, Trump, who reportedly boasted about the crowd size, pushed back against the members of his team who wanted him to put a halt to the rioting. And even when he relented and agreed to film the video, Trump reportedly had to go through several takes before he actually stuck to the script. An aide present for the recording told Karl that in earlier versions Trump never actually told the crowd to disperse.

He eventually did, though some of that ambiguity remained in the final version, in which Trump told the rioters, "We love you. You are special." Watch Karl's report below, and read more anecdotes from the book, including new details about Trump's efforts to convince the Justice Department to help him overturn the election and his Jan. 6 call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), at ABC News.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up