Watch live: President Trump delivers a statement on the GOP baseball shooting

It was supposed to be a quiet morning at the White House as President Trump marked his 71st birthday, with nothing on his public schedule until the late afternoon. But that was shattered by early reports that a shooter had opened fire on Republican lawmakers and staff at a baseball practice across the Potomac River in Virginia.

White House staff canceled Trump’s scheduled public events Wednesday and scrambled to bring details to the president as he watched the developments on television, including the news that the House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and a congressional aide were shot.

Trump posted on Twitter shortly before 9 a.m. that Scalise, “a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.”

Scalise was shot in the hip on the ball field in Alexandria, Va., shortly after 7 a.m. and was taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington for surgery.

The president will make statement on the shooting at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time.