Trump is 'safe following gunshots in his vicinity'

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Former President Donald Trump praised the Secret Service for doing a “fantastic job” Monday night and offered his first detailed account of what authorities say was an attempt to assassinate him at his West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday.

Appearing in an X Spaces interview—which was supposed to promote his new crypto venture World Liberty Financial—Trump said he was playing golf with some of his friends when “all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air...I guess probably four or five...and it sounded like bullets.”

Trump said the Secret Service agents accompanying him “knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me” and moved him out of the area in golf carts.

The former president said another agent at the course fired the gunshots he heard after spotting the barrel of a gun in the bushes, adding that the suspect never managed to get a shot off—confirming what law enforcement authorities have said.

Trump also praised a civilian present in the area who took a photo of the license plate on the suspect’s vehicle and shared it with the sheriff’s office, calling it “key” to his arrest.

When asked why he thought there was a second attempt on his life, the former president blamed the Democrats, saying “A lot of people think that the Democrats when they talk about ‘a threat to democracy’ and all of this, and it seems that both of these people were radical lefts.

^ The gunshots were from the Secret Service agents, not the would-be assassin.

12hrs! Maybe he was aiming for trump's ear?

The local police team responsible for the roof a shooter used to fire at ex-President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, had never spoken to the Secret Service prior to the attempted assassination, a report released by the Secret Service on Friday says.

The “initial mission assurance report” compiled by the Secret Service’s own internal investigators found that bad planning and poor communication between agencies caused the security lapse that allowed Thomas Crooks to fire on Trump, killing a member of the crowd, critically injuring two others and wounding Trump.

Among other errors, the report found that one local police entity working security at the Trump rally requested support from another local department without the Secret Service being aware.

That second local department ultimately became responsible for securing the roof of the AGR building, where Crooks took position. The local departments were not named in the report.

“This led to a situation where the local tactical team operating on the second floor of the AGR building—a team that was providing mutual aid support — had no prior contact with Secret Service personnel before the rally,” the report said. “There was also no discussion with Secret Service advance personnel about positioning that team atop the AGR roof.”

The report also said that the Secret Service’s counter sniper asset team, which would ultimately be responsible for taking down any shooter in the area, arrived in Butler after previous law enforcement organizations had already met and made security plans.

It’s important that we hold ourselves to account for the failures of July 13 and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another mission failure like this again,” acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said at a news conference unveiling the report Friday.

While investigating the incident, the Secret Service placed some officials, including the director of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh Field Office, on leave.

Friday’s report said “recommendations to leadership” may be coming at another time.

Rowe spoke shortly after the House of Representatives voted unanimously to approve a bill that would ensure presidential candidates get the same level of security as sitting presidents.

“The former president is getting everything that the current president has with respect to Secret Service assets,” Rowe said.

The report also blamed a “high operational tempo” for the security breach on July 13, suggesting the agency may have been stretched too thin between increasing security for Vice President Kamala Harris, staffing the Republican National Convention and preparing for the Democratic National Convention.

Federal prosecutors have charged the man who was spotted with a gun outside of Donald Trump's golf course with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, alleges that Ryan Wesley Routh "did intentionally attempt to kill Former President of the United States Donald J. Trump, a major Presidential candidate" when he was camped out near where Trump was golfing on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The charges carries a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.

It also added two other charges: possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer.

Routh had previously been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump nominee who dismissed the criminal classified documents against the former president earlier this year.

The indictment comes one day after Trump issued a statement accusing the Justice Department of “downplaying” the alleged assassination plot against him this month and suggesting state officials in Florida take over the case.