Trump says he wanted to join Jan. 6 march but Secret Service wouldn't allow it

Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Wednesday that he wanted to join the march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but the Secret Service would not allow it due to security issues.

In a 45-minute interview at Mar-a-Lago with Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, Trump discussed the riot and its build-up. The protests, during which one participant was killed, began after a speech from Trump encouraged thousands of protesters to march to the Capitol – demanding the Senate refuse to certify the election victory of then-President-elect Joe Biden. Trump said the crowd he addressed on the Ellipse was the largest he’d ever spoken to.

"Secret Service said I couldn’t go. I would have gone there in a minute," Trump told the Washington Post.

"The crowd was far bigger than I even thought. I believe it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to. I don’t know what that means, but you see very few pictures. They don’t want to show pictures, the fake news doesn’t want to show pictures," Trump continued. "But this was a tremendous crowd."

Trump blamed the sustained occupation of the Capitol building on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, who he said he believed were "taking care of it."