President Donald Trump took in the solar eclipse from the Truman Balcony of the White House on Monday, even briefly glancing at the sun directly despite a shouted warning from an aide.
Sporting eclipse glasses — for only part of the viewing — and standing alongside Melania Trump and their son, Barron, Trump viewed what was a partial eclipse in Washington, DC. It began at 1:17 p.m. ET, peaked at 2:42 p.m., and was set to end at 4:01 p.m., The Washington Post reported. The moon covered 81% of the sun at the eclipse's peak in Washington.
At one point, Trump did look up at the eclipse without wearing the glasses, which can cause eye damage. According to a White House pool report, one of Trump's aides shouted "Don't look" when Trump came out and pointed at the sky.
Much of the nation focused on the event, the first total eclipse to cross the country in nearly a century. The path of totality, where the moon fully eclipsed the sun, stretched from Oregon to South Carolina, but much of the rest of the country could view at least a partial eclipse.
Here are some more photos of Trump looking at the eclipse:
Without glasses:
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
And with glasses:
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
And here's a video of Trump watching the eclipse:
The thumbs up here is magnificent pic.twitter.com/PO2ncm2tG1
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