Donald Trump reportedly wants to resume outdoor rallies
The former president has not held an outdoor rally since the July 13 assassination attempt.
Scripps News
WASHINGTON — The Secret Service is stepping up its protection for former President Donald Trump following his near-assassination attempt, including installing bulletproof glass at some of his outdoor rallies and deploying additional security forces as needed.
Some of those agents could come from President Joe Biden’s security detail, as he faces reduced travel after he drops out of the 2024 presidential race. This is part of a complex series of rotating assignments, according to a source familiar with the planning. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operational security issues and said the changes were justified by the increased risk of violence facing the former president.
The move to beef up Trump’s security measures came less than a month after the Secret Service failed last month to protect the Republican presidential candidate from a sniper who climbed onto the roof of a nearby building during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots from an AR-style rifle before being shot by a Secret Service sniper stationed on another roof nearby. Trump was wounded in the right ear and one protester was killed and two others were wounded in the attack. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned and the agency vowed to strengthen security measures to ensure that none of the several dozen people it protects are put in such danger again.
The decision to use the bulletproof glass — an expensive and logistically complicated decision — is somewhat unusual because it is traditionally used only for sitting presidents and vice presidents, the source familiar with the planning told USA TODAY. The reason is that it will be transported on military aircraft that accompany the president on trips.
Presidential candidates – even former presidents like Trump – are not provided with such military transport and logistical support.
Ensuring the safety of candidates and presidents is “top priority”
The Secret Service declined to comment on the changes, saying in a statement: “The safety of our wards is the highest priority for the U.S. Secret Service. However, to protect the integrity of our operations, we cannot comment on specific protective measures and methods.”
The source familiar with the planning confirmed the changes and said the agency was committed to ensuring the required level of security for all of its protected individuals.
As for Trump’s bodyguards, Secret Service spokeswoman Alexi Worley said the agency could not provide exact details on how many agents were assigned to Biden – or Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.
However, she said that in his role as president, Biden “enjoys the highest level of protection from the Secret Service.”
“The agency’s Presidential Protective Division is comprised of several hundred highly trained special agents, as well as technical security personnel and operational support staff,” Worley said in a statement.
“For complex and large-scale events, experienced Presidential Protective Division personnel may assist in advance planning for former President Donald Trump and other high-level protective individuals on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “This support is independent of the Presidential Protective Division’s operational requirements.”
According to the Secret Service, this practice was frequently used during the United Nations General Assembly in New York and during visits by other high-level heads of state and government to the United States.
Secret Service under fire for near-assassination attempt on Trump
The Secret Service has come under heavy criticism since Trump’s near-fatal attack on July 13, particularly for allowing Crooks a clear shot at the candidate. This and other failures, including communication problems with local police, led to Cheatle’s resignation.
Before resigning, Cheatle said she had already begun strengthening protections for presidential candidates, including at both parties’ nominating conventions. Democrats will meet in Chicago on Monday to nominate Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Trump has not held an outdoor campaign rally since the Butler shooting, and he has also faced threats from Iranian agents, U.S. intelligence officials said. Earlier this month, a Pakistani national with ties to Iran was charged with plotting to assassinate a U.S. politician or government official, possibly in response to the Trump administration’s killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020, according to a criminal complaint released Tuesday.
More: Iran-linked conspirator who may have targeted Donald Trump arrested and charged in New York
The source familiar with the new and sensitive security dynamics said that since Trump will continue to have no military logistical support, the bulletproof glass will be deployed across the country and used by the Secret Service when deemed necessary for a particular occasion.
The agency is also taking other enhanced security measures, including more staff and tools such as drones, to better contain dangers at outdoor rallies.
An expensive and complicated undertaking
Former Secret Service Director John Magaw said it would be difficult to lug around and set up the enormously heavy bulletproof glass panels for an outdoor rally like the ones Trump likes to hold. But he said they could help ensure security, especially in outdoor venues where there are too many vantage points from which a potential sniper could fire.
“Usually your sniper supervisor comes a day or two early. They fly a drone over the site, take pictures and everything. And then you decide how you’re going to cover the direct line of fire,” Magaw told USA TODAY. “You can either cover it with glass, the protective glass that can withstand a rifle shot, or you can divide the site into four quadrants,” each covered by a separate sniper team.
Magaw said both tactics are often used, resulting in a very effective shield. In the past, he said, the “glass armor,” as the Secret Service often calls it, often required special measurements to fit a specific location.
“You have to mount the glass in a way that limits the angle that any shooter might want to use,” Magaw said.
