After being the target of a second alleged assassination attempt on Sunday, September 15, Donald Trump praised the action of the Secret Service on his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida. According to details Monday from the acting director of the security agency, Ronald Rowe, the suspect was spotted and targeted by an agent before he was even in a position to shoot the former president.
However, his Republican allies deplore the fact that his security has not been raised to the level enjoyed by a sitting president, while he has already escaped a first assassination attempt on July 13, during a rally in Pennsylvania. “There have been TWO assassination attempts against Trump. The Secret Service must raise its level of protection to its MAXIMUM capabilities — including by expanding the perimeter” of security around him, said on X the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise.
The Secret Service, responsible for protecting the president, vice president and senior American political figures, is once again at the center of questions. After the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the agency’s boss, Kimberly Cheatle, ended up resigning and five agents were placed on compulsory leave.
What security is Donald Trump entitled to?
The Secret Service has some 3,200 special agents, known worldwide for their dark glasses, earpieces and dark suits, 1,300 uniformed personnel, and more than 2,000 technical or administrative officials. The level of protection for political figures, and therefore the number of agents assigned to them, varies depending on the Secret Service’s threat assessment. The latter also protects “major” presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 120 days before a presidential election.
According to Ronald Kessler, an author specializing in secret services quoted by the BBCabout 80 agents are reportedly assigned to Donald Trump at any given time. About 300 agents are also assigned to the president and vice president in office, the specialist said. “The division of tasks is always the same: it’s the close protection agents who are close to the president, but there are also the counter-sniper teams, the counter-assault teams, the counter-surveillance teams,” Michael Matranga, who worked in the Secret Service for 12 years under Barack Obama, also told the BBC. Former presidents don’t have additional teams on a day-to-day basis, but Trump does, according to the source. “There’s still more that can be done. It would be good to have dogs sweeping the bushes or an emergency response team that monitors the area,” he continued.
Has its security level been raised since July 13?
Ronald Rowe assured Monday that after the failed assassination of July 13, on the instructions of outgoing President Joe Biden, the Secret Service had further “strengthened” its security around Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, bringing it to the “highest level”. “These measures were already in place on Sunday,” he told the press. He also affirmed that the level of security was comparable to that of the time when Trump was president. “For those of you who were here in 2017, when the president was in office, when you look at this footprint [de sécurité] now and you look at it today, there’s not much difference,” he said.
At a hearing following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, the acting director of the Secret Service told lawmakers they would expand the use of drones to monitor the perimeter, improve communications and increase the number of security personnel. In addition, both candidates in the Nov. 5 presidential election now have bulletproof glass on three sides when they appear at their rallies.
And now ?
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the House would demand more Secret Service protection for Trump, saying he needs more attention than anyone else. President Joe Biden also said Monday from the White House that the Secret Service “needs more help.” The Biden administration has asked Congress for special authorization to increase Secret Service spending, warning that without it, the service will not have “sufficient resources” to improve its protection operations.
The acting head of the Secret Service said Monday that the July 13 shooting showed him the agency needed a “paradigm shift.” “We need to move away from a reactive mindset and toward a preparedness mindset.”