WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Askume) – The head of the Secret Service told Donald Trump in a private meeting that he would need a major new security detail if he wanted to continue playing golf, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
During a meeting on Monday, Trump asked acting Secret Service Director Ronald Roe if it was safe to continue playing ball, the newspaper reported. Roe said the Secret Service found the golf course at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland easier to protect because it is a military course.
The meeting came a day after the Secret Service foiled a second assassination attempt on Trump in less than two months . Secret Service agents shot and killed would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh on Sunday after he was found with a gun barrel stuck in a fence at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and then arrested by local police.
The incident has raised questions among Trump supporters and lawmakers about the adequacy of Trump’s security.
“Former President Trump is receiving the highest level of protection provided by the U.S. Secret Service, and we will continue to evaluate and implement our specific protective measures and measures based on each location and situation,” Secret Service spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie said at the event on Tuesday.
Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that “we’ve been asking for additional personnel for a long time” and that additional Secret Service protection would be provided soon.
“I think we understand now,” Trump told interviewer Sean Hannity by phone. “I’m told now they’ll be sending aid to more people.”
Still, West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters Sunday that Trump’s security is not as strict as that of the current president.
Following the incident, both Democrats and Republicans accused each other of using extreme rhetoric to incite political violence.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing on Tuesday that Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s comments that there was no assassination attempt on Vice President Kamala Harris were dangerous.
“The biggest difference between conservatives and liberals is … no one has tried to assassinate Kamala Harris in the last several months,” Vance said Monday.
Jean-Pierre said such language could put Harris in danger.
“When you make comments like that, people have a chance of hearing you and they can take you very seriously, so that kind of rhetoric is dangerous,” he said.
Trump is scheduled to speak at a campaign event in Michigan on Tuesday night, his first public political event since the weekend assassination attempt.
