Trump was rushed from the briefing room by Secret Service after a shooting outside the White House

• President Donald Trump was abruptly ushered out of the White House briefing room on Monday.
• Trump had spoken for only a few moments before a Secret Service agent said something to him and removed the president from the room.
• Trump eventually returned to the briefing room and said there'd been a shooting outside the White House.
• In a statement issued late Monday evening, the US Secret Service said a man claiming to have a weapon had threatened one of its officers, who opened fire.

President Donald Trump was unexpectedly rushed out of the White House briefing room on Monday by the Secret Service without explanation, prompting immediate confusion.

Trump had spoken for only a few moments before he was ushered out of the room.

The president returned to the briefing room moments later and announced there'd been a shooting near the White House. Trump said law enforcement shot a "suspect" and the person was being taken to a hospital.

"There was a shooting outside of the White House. And it seems very well under control," Trump said.

In a statement issued late Monday evening, the US Secret Service said that a 51-year-old man had approached on if its officers outside the White House and claimed to have a weapon.

"The suspect then turned around, ran aggressively towards the officer, and in a drawing motion, withdrew an object from his clothing," the statement said. "He then crouched into a shooter's stance as if about to fire a weapon."

The officer responded by shooting the man in the torso, according to the statement, which said both men were taken to a hospital.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Trump said the Secret Service took him to the Oval Office, not the bunker, when he was briefly removed from the briefing room.

When reporters asked Trump whether he felt threatened by the incident, he said he had the utmost confidence in his security team.

"No I feel very safe with the secret service. They're fantastic people," Trump said. "They're the best of the best."

After touching on the shooting, Trump promptly returned to talking about the stock market and other issues.

Other shootings near White House grounds have taken place in recent years. In 2016, an armed man was shot by the Secret Service after approaching a security checkpoint. The man was holding a handgun and refused to drop the weapon after he was instructed to, the agency said at the time. President Barack Obama was golfing and not at the White House at the time, NBC News reported.