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Increased Secret Service presence thwarted second potential Trump attack

Vaseline September 16, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Secret Service mounted a conspicuous presence around former President Donald Trump as he golfed Sunday, foiling an alleged assassination attempt after an agent spotted a rifle through the brush ahead of him.

Experts say agents in West Palm Beach appear to have handled the situation well, two months after the Secret Service came under heavy criticism over an earlier assassination attempt in which a gunman with an AR-style rifle fired at the GOP candidate from about 450 feet (137 meters) away.

But the recent incident at one of Trump’s Florida golf clubs underscores the challenges of protecting a presidential candidate who enjoys public exposure, including playing golf on the course and holding outdoor gatherings, experts told USA TODAY.

“Generally speaking, even for a sitting president, they will operate the same way they did here,” said A.T. Smith, the deputy director of the Secret Service from 2012 to 2015.

That means officers must do their utmost to accommodate other golfers, Smith said, while discreetly scanning the course for potential threats as Trump and his party continue to play.

“You wouldn’t necessarily close the entire track. You would basically do what they did today, which is probably pre-clear the track to some extent, and then you create a kind of moving bubble” around the protected, in this case Trump, Smith told USA TODAY.

More: Trump Attempted Assassination in Florida: Who Is Suspect Ryan Routh?

Under Secret Service protocol, the bubble would then move with Trump, covering a range of three to five holes in front of and behind him, using high-tech tools for any sign of a potential attacker, Smith said. “They’re clearly moving ahead of him, and then moving with him as he moves forward.”

‘Doing the same thing we’ve always done’

Like Smith, former Secret Service Director John Magaw cautioned that much more remains to be learned about the incident in the coming days, including whether agents used aerial surveillance drones to monitor the course. Both questioned how the suspect was able to get a rifle — reportedly with a telescopic sight — as close as a quarter-mile from Trump while he was playing golf at his Trump International Golf Course.

But Magaw also said it appeared the Secret Service was following protocol, especially for someone like Trump, who is a presidential candidate and not entitled to the full protections he received when he was president.

“It looks like we’ve been doing the same thing we always do,” Magaw said. “They’re one hole ahead of him, searching through bushes and wooded areas” for threats.

Questions since the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13

Questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect Trump and others have grown since the Republican candidate was shot by a would-be assassin at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

Trump was injured in his right ear, and a rallygoer was killed and two others wounded in the assassination attempt. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned, and the agency vowed to beef up security so that none of the dozens of people it protects would be so vulnerable again.

On Sunday, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation said it could not immediately be determined whether the suspect was able to fire a shot before he was shot by Secret Service agents, but that would be reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details about the Secret Service’s operations, said the service had indeed deployed increased security on Sunday as part of a broader effort to better protect Trump after the first assassination attempt.

In this case, a U.S. Secret Service agent standing in front of Trump as he golfed saw what appeared to be the barrel of a gun, officials said at an afternoon news conference. Agents then fired at a suspect near the property line shortly before 2 p.m.

More: What went wrong? How could the Secret Service allow the shooter to get so close to Trump?

Officers found an AK-47-style rifle, a scope, a backpack and a GoPro camera at the scene, officials said. Trump was about 400 to 500 yards away from the would-be attacker, officials said.

‘Virtually out of sight’ due to undergrowth on golf course

The suspect, Ryan Routh, was arrested shortly afterward, said David Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County. The FBI subsequently said in a statement that it was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of Trump.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw praised the agency for its response Sunday, saying “the Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do. They provided exactly what the protection was supposed to be, and their agent did a fantastic job” in identifying the suspect.

But Bradshaw also said the agency provided less protection on the golf course for Trump because he was a former president and not a current president, and that agents were hampered by the fact that “the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery.”

“So if someone climbs into the undergrowth, he’s pretty much out of sight, and at this level where he’s at now, he’s not undefined Bradshaw said at the press conference. “If he was, we would have this whole golf course surrounded.”

“But because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” Bradshaw said. “So I would imagine the next time he comes to the golf course, there’s probably going to be a little bit more people around the perimeter.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said on X that the incident raised troubling questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect Trump.

“Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former president and the Republican candidate are unacceptable,” Khanna wrote. “The Secret Service needs to come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the perimeter, and let’s allocate them in a bipartisan vote that same day.”