--- title: Secret Service Denies Fight Over 'Nuclear Football' in China description: It came after a report that the U.S. Secret Service tackled Chinese security during President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing. canonical: https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/ author: Sarah Gray article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-19T21:48:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:20:49.469Z article:section: Politics og:title: Secret Service Denies Report of Scuffle for Nuclear Football og:description: In a Monday morning Tweet, the U.S. Secret Service called the report "false." og:url: https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt792b1d5719ccf9c0/6988e640096a941c4d6a0728/gettyimages-871907224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump And China President Xi Jinping Deliver Press Statement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Secret Service Denies Report of Scuffle for Nuclear Football twitter:description: In a Monday morning Tweet, the U.S. Secret Service called the report "false." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt792b1d5719ccf9c0/6988e640096a941c4d6a0728/gettyimages-871907224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Secret Service Denies Reports of Scuffle Over 'Nuclear Football' With Chinese Security > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sarah Gray](https://time.com/author/sarah-gray/) ## Sarah Gray Feb 19, 2018 9:48 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Xi Jinping, China's president, shake hands during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Xi Jinping, China's president, shake hands during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Sarah Gray](https://time.com/author/sarah-gray/) ## Sarah Gray Feb 19, 2018 9:48 PM UTC The U.S. Secret Service has denied a report that an agent was forced to tackle a Chinese security official after he tried to detain the American military officer carrying the U.S. nuclear launch codes during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in November. “FACT CHECK: Reports about Secret Service agents tackling a host nation official during the President’s trip to China in Nov 2017 are false,” the Secret Service tweeted Monday. On Sunday, [Axios](https://www.axios.com/scoop-skirmish-in-beijing-over-the-nuclear-football-1518992774-1e7a513d-4190-459d-ad4f-2c8746fecc6f.html) reported that a skirmish happened when Chinese security services tired to interfere with the U.S. military aide carrying the so-called “nuclear football” — a briefcase containing the [nuclear launch codes,](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122100869.html) with which the president of the United States can order a nuclear strike at any time from anywhere in the world. According to Axios, the American officer was allegedly prevented from entering the Great Hall of the People with President Donald Trump during his visit to China. The football is [supposed to stay near the president](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/donald-trump-nuclear-codes/index.html) at all times. > [](https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/965625677247668225) The Axios post, which cites five sources, claims the incident led to the Chinese apologizing. The U.S. Secret Service did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/"},"headline":"Secret Service Denies Reports of Scuffle Over 'Nuclear Football' With Chinese Security","datePublished":"2018-02-19T21:48:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:20:49.469Z","description":"In a Monday morning Tweet, the U.S. Secret Service called the report \"false.\"","url":"https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/","keywords":["China","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt792b1d5719ccf9c0/6988e640096a941c4d6a0728/gettyimages-871907224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Gray","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-gray/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt792b1d5719ccf9c0/6988e640096a941c4d6a0728/gettyimages-871907224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Donald Trump And China President Xi Jinping Deliver Press Statement","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump And China President Xi Jinping Deliver Press Statement","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/china/","name":"China"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5165680/secret-service-denies-scuffle-nuclear-football-china/","name":"Secret Service Denies Reports of Scuffle Over 'Nuclear Football' With Chinese Security"}}]}] ```