President Donald Trump reflected Saturday on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump” about the first assassination attempt against his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, stating he’s “satisfied” with the briefing he’s received about the security lapses that had occurred.
On July 13, 2024, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to kill the then-GOP presidential nominee, shooting multiple rounds into a crowd gathered to support Trump. While speaking to his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, the president said that while there were mistakes made by the U.S. Secret Service, he is “satisfied” with his administration’s findings on the subject after receiving “numerous” briefings on it.
“So they briefed me numerous times, the FBI, the Secret Service, sort of everybody, DOJ. Pamela’s doing a fantastic, I think she’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “But they briefed me and I’m satisfied with it. I’m satisfied with it.”
“They should have had somebody in the building, that was a mistake. They should have had communications with the local police. They weren’t tied in. And they should have been tied in,” Trump added, referencing some of the key security failures that led up to the assassination attempt. “So there were mistakes made. And that, you know, shouldn’t have happened.”
Multiple outlets reported on Wednesday that six U.S. Secret Service agents were suspended in connection to the failures at the Butler rally. While the agents’ identities had not been released by officials, sources told ABC News that the suspensions had been issued in recent months and the agents were given the right to appeal the 10- to 42-day punishments.
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The shooting at the rally left Trump with an injured ear grazed by a bullet, multiple crowd members injured and, ultimately, killed former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore.
With questions immediately being raised about the security at the event, little has been released about Crooks and his motive in the attack. As Crooks had been able to get a clear shot while climbing onto a nearby building, a report from The Wall Street Journal also revealed that the 20-year-old had been able to fly a drone hours prior to the event, capturing aerial footage of the rally setup.
“That building was a prime building in terms of what they were trying to do. So but I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot. I was satisfied,” Trump continued. “I have great confidence in these people. I know the people and they’re very talented, very capable. They had a bad day. I think they’ll admit that at the end of a rough day, this is a very dangerous job being president.”
“You know, I say a race car driver, one percent of one percent — think of that — die. It’s not a lot. A bull rider. I think that’s pretty dangerous. It’s like one tenth of one percent die. With the president, it’s like five percent,” Trump said. “Why didn’t you tell me this? I could have maybe made a different decision, but I wouldn’t have made a different decision because we’re doing so well.”
Lawmakers quickly called in then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle days after the attack to answer questions about her agency’s failures.
After facing bipartisan scrutiny over the lack of perimeter security and accountability, Cheatle resigned just 10 days later. In a message to staff, she said she took “full responsibility for the security lapse.”
Weeks after Crooks had attempted to take Trump’s life, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was then arrested by officials for allegedly attempting to assassinate Trump at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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