U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that the Secret Service needs more agents to help perform its security work after a second apparent assassination attempt in the last two months on former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the November 5 election.
"The Secret Service needs more help," Biden told reporters at the White House, following an incident Sunday in which the Secret Service opened fire on a gunman, who was later arrested, as Trump was playing a round of golf at one of his courses in Florida.
"I think the Congress should respond to their needs," Biden said. "I think we may need more personnel."
Biden added, “Thank God the president's OK." Trump’s election opponent, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, said Sunday, "I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America."
Trump was about 365 to 455 meters from where a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle muzzle pointed through a chain link fence in the bushes between the fifth and seventh holes on the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The agent fired at least four shots in the direction of the gunman but did not hit him.
Officials said the suspect, later identified by law enforcement authorities as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, dropped his AK-style rifle and left behind a GoPro camera mounted to the fence and backpacks before fleeing in a black Nissan car. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a witness saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate before he escaped.
Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt had previous run-ins with the law
Bradshaw said the gunman’s location at the golf course endangered Trump.
“With a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” Bradshaw said.
Sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Martin County apprehended the suspect a short time later without incident on the Interstate 95 highway about 65 kilometers from the golf course.
Routh, wearing a dark blue prison jump suit and with his hands and feet shackled, made his initial court appearance in a federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday. He was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
The suspected gunman apparently fired no shots at the 78-year-old Trump. Trump’s right ear was grazed by a bullet targeting him in an earlier assassination attempt on July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Shortly after the Sunday incident, Trump assured Americans on his Truth Social platform that he was safe.
“I am safe and well, and no one was hurt,” Trump said in one of the campaign messages. “But there are people in this world who will do whatever it takes to stop us.
“I would like to thank everyone for your concerns and well wishes — It was certainly an interesting day!” Trump said. He praised his Secret Service detail, saying, “The job was done absolutely outstanding.”
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president's, said on air that he spoke with Trump and his golf partner, Steve Witkoff, about the incident.
They told Hannity they were playing the fifth hole at the golf course when they heard a "pop pop, pop pop." Within seconds, Hannity said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents "pounced on" Trump and "covered him" to protect him.
Moments later, Witkoff said, a "fast cart" with steel reinforcement and other protection was able to whisk away Trump.
Hannity said that after it was clear that Trump and Witkoff were safe, the former president, an avid golfer, quipped that he was disappointed he could not finish his round because he was playing well and had a potential birdie putt on the fifth green.
On Monday, Trump told Fox News Digital that the accused gunman “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it.” Trump added, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Trump has not announced any changes to his campaign schedule and is set to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons' crypto platform.
Secret Service officials are expected to brief Trump Monday on their investigation.
Meanwhile, the leaders of a congressional bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump said they have requested a briefing by the Secret Service on Sunday’s incident.
"We are thankful that the former president was not harmed but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms," Congressmen Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, said in a statement.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.