Trump Had Presidential Secret Service Coverage During 2nd Assassination Attempt: Lawmakers

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event, his first since a man carrying a rifle was arrested on Sept. 15 near where Trump was playing golf at his club in Florida, in the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., on Sept. 17, 2024. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Secret Service was protecting former President Donald Trump with presidential-level coverage during a second apparent assassination attempt against him on Sept. 15, lawmakers told reporters in Washington after receiving a briefing from the Secret Service on Sept. 18.

“He had the same coverage as sitting president as he had last Sunday,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who is chairing the House task force probing the first assassination attempt against Trump, told reporters on Capitol Hill.

“I came away today feeling that the Secret Service on this past Sunday was treating it the same way as when President Trump was the sitting president.”

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the top Democrat on the task force, said that the coverage “was commensurate with presidential-level security and actually the same package of same security that he would have had—and did have—when he was the sitting president.”

A Hawaii resident named Ryan Wesley Routh was allegedly lying in wait for Trump at the former president’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15 when the Secret Service spotted his gun and fired toward him, according to the agency and the FBI. Routh fled. He was later apprehended, and officials recovered a rifle with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro camera at the golf course.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a briefing on Sept. 15 that Trump did not receive the protection he would have if he were the president.

“The level where he is at right now, he is not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had the entire golf course surrounded, but because he’s not, security is limited to the areas the Secret Service deems possible,” Bradshaw said.

Republicans plan to introduce a bill that would require the Secret Service to give the same level of protection to Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as President Joe Biden. Trump is the Republican nominee for president and Democrats picked Harris as the Democratic nominee after Biden dropped out of the race.

Trump was first targeted on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was struck in the ear by a shot fired by Thomas Crooks, who was subsequently shot dead by authorities.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told Congress after that assassination attempt that the president receives “other assets” that Trump “will not get.”

Crow said there are additional assets that travel with the president involving technology and communications.

He said it’s his understanding that Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide the same level of security to Trump and Harris as he receives and that the order was carried out.

Biden told reporters recently that the Secret Service “needs more help.”

Congress is expected to soon vote on allocating more money to the agency. Senate and House appropriators are reviewing the information the Secret Service submitted to members outlining how the funds would be used.

“You can’t mass produce agents between now and November 5th,” Crow said.

While money could go toward training agents for the future, some could be used for short-term priorities, he said.

The congressional task force headed by Kelly is expected to receive approval from the House to expand its remit to the second apparent assassination attempt, but a vote has not yet taken place.

Crow said the remarks from himself and Kelly included the caveat that the task force has not investigated the second attempt.

At this time, he said, lawmakers have not identified any glaring issues with the Secret Service’s handling of the incident.

“It does not appear at this point ... [that] there were any obvious failures of security and protocol,” he said.

The Secret Service did not respond by publication time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.