Ex-agent explains why protecting Trump is such a unique challenge

Trump’s public profile has posed a unique security and funding challenge for the Secret Service, a former agent told BBC News. “It’s dialled up,” said Paul Eckloff, a Secret Service agent of 20 years who protected Trump during his presidency. “The amount of time he spends outside, the exuberance of his fan base, the number and size of rallies, and the lack of military support, does make it more difficult.” The Secret Service, which protects presidents and other top US officials, was central to both incidents that threatened Trump’s life. Earlier this week, a Secret Service agent spotted a gunman hiding in the bushes near the former president’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course. This follows a July assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where another gunman opened fire and struck Trump’s ear. The agency’s leadership has been hauled before Congress since then, its director resigned after intense pressure, and lawmakers have since set up a task force to examine this summer’s threats to the Republican candidate’s life. The most recent incident, meanwhile, has led to calls for new funding for the Secret Service to ensure it can adequately protect presidential candidates in a political climate that many fear could lead to more violence. As details of the apparent assassination attempt emerged, President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that the Secret Service “needs more help” and Congress should respond. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican leader at the centre of the congressional budget fight, dismissed the need for the Secret Service to receive budget help. The Secret Service has long worried about protecting Trump at his golf courses, the Washington Post reported, external, and had even tried to warn the former president about the opportunities it could provide to a would-be assailant. In 2022, then-US Secret Service Director James Murray warned US lawmakers that the agency was scrambling to keep up with the pace and scale of Trump’s rallies. But with Trump, “the nature is different, and we’re seeing sometimes two, three, four, of these rallies every month”, Mr Murray told the House Appropriations Committee at the time. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Monday that if Trump had been a sitting president, “we would have had this entire golf course surrounded”. But the former president frequently played on a military base, where security was easier to manage, according to Mr Eckloff, the former Secret Service agent. The acting head of the US Secret Service said this week that Trump’s security was now at its “highest level”. Trump’s existing protection is as “near as possible to presidential-level security that can be done”, said Mr Eckloff. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6qvg78z8no