A former Obama administration official tweeted Saturday that "thank God" President Donald Trump "was playing golf" after an emergency alert was mistakenly sent warning Hawaii residents of an incoming ballistic missile.
Here's the post from Patrick Granfield, a former Pentagon strategic communications director:
The alert moved on social media and cellphones in all capital letters at 8:07 a.m. local time.
"Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii," the alert said. "Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."
But 38 minutes later, U.S. officials sent out another message saying that the text was a false alarm.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Repoza said it was a false alarm and the agency is trying to determine what happened.
CNN reported that President Trump was playing golf at his Trump International Golf Club in Florida during the false alarm.
The White House said later that "the president has been briefed on the state of Hawaii’s emergency management exercise.
"This was purely a state exercise," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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