President Joe Biden said the Secret Service “needs more help” after a second potential assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Sunday—echoing concern from lawmakers about how two gunmen in the span of less than two months were able to get so close to the former president.
U.S. President Joe Biden approaches reporters as he departs the White House on September 16, 2024 in ... [+]
“One thing I want to make clear . . . the Secret Service needs more help,” Biden said while speaking to reporters outside the White House as he boarded Marine One on Monday, adding that he was thankful Trump is “OK.”
Biden urged Congress to allocate more resources to the Secret Service “if they in fact need more services,” and suggested they might have a personnel issue.
Biden made the comments hours after the Secret Service fired shots at a suspect who authorities said was seen pointing a rifle within firing distance of the former president as he played golf at his West Palm Beach course on Sunday in what the FBI is investigating as an assassination attempt.
Multiple lawmakers have raised concerns about potential shortfalls in the level of protection surrounding Trump after Sunday’s incident, which follows the shooting at his Pennsylvania rally in July when a bullet grazed his ear and a bystander was killed.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., tweeted earlier Monday “getting answers to how President Trump has now faced multiple assassination attempts is a top priority,” and said on Fox News Trump “needs the most coverage of anyone . . . even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office.”
Johnson said the House is “demanding” Trump has “every asset available, and we will make more available if necessary,” adding “I don’t think it’s a funding issue, I think it’s a manpower allocation.”
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Trump thanked the Secret Service and Palm Beach County law enforcement in a Truth Social post early Monday for “the incredible job done today at Trump International,” calling their response “absolutely outstanding.”
A growing, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has called for added protection for Trump in the wake of Sunday’s incident. New York Republican Reps. Nick Langworthy and Nicole Malliotakis called for Trump to have the same level of Secret Service protection as a sitting president, while Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who was seriously injured in a shooting at a congressional baseball practice in 2017, tweeted that the agency needs to increase its level of protection for Trump to its “FULL capabilities.” Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, N.Y., also told Axios Trump and other presidential candidates should get the “highest level” of protection. The Secret Service is “limited” in its ability to protect Trump, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters Sunday, explaining he does not have the same level of enhanced security as a sitting president and noting the golf course is a particularly difficult place to protect Trump since it is surrounded by shrubbery where would-be attackers can easily hide. The congressional panel investigating the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump has also called for a Secret Service briefing on Sunday’s incident, the chair and top Democrat on the committee, Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., said Sunday in a statement.
The Secret Service faced backlash in the wake of the July assassination attempt, prompting its director, Kimberly Cheatle, to resign amid criticism of security lapses at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Agents allegedly ignored multiple warnings from bystanders who said they saw the shooter on the roof of a building that was being used as a police tactical team staging area. Secret Service snipers also reportedly spotted the gunman 20 minutes before he opened fire at the rally, killing an attendee, leaving Trump with a wounded ear and seriously injuring two others.
The Secret Service detail for presidents and vice presidents has shrunk about 10% over the past decade, despite its budget nearly doubling and the agency hiring more personnel, NBC reported, citing government records. One reason for the strain is the number of former presidents they must protect continues to grow and Trump and Biden in particular have multiple personal properties and large, multigenerational families who live and travel to various locations, a former agent, Jason Russell, told NBC.
Secret Service agents spotted the barrel of a rifle poking through the brush pointed toward the golf course where Trump was playing around 1:30 p.m. Sunday before opening fire toward the would-be shooter and whisking Trump away in an armored vehicle, authorities said. The suspect left his AK-47-style gun equipped with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera at the scene before fleeing in a vehicle. Police later arrested a man, Ryan Wesley Routh, driving a vehicle photographed by a witness as it was leaving the vicinity of Trump’s Palm Beach golf course. Routh will appear in federal court Monday, though it’s unclear what charges he faces. The FBI has said it is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt against Trump, but authorities have not publicly announced an alleged motive.
Trump Assassination Attempt: Everything We Know About The Arrested Suspect (Forbes)
Trump Safe After ‘Attempted Assassination’—Suspect Identified (Forbes)