The most recent Secret Service mishap has provided Trump with a new opportunity for victory in the election.

Upon hearing about the most recent assassination attempt on President Trump, my immediate reaction was brief.

“WTF??!!” I posted on X.

It’s likely that those three letters encapsulated the sentiment of most individuals upon learning that another lone gunman had managed to get within a few hundred yards from the former president and current presidential candidate.

How could this have occurred again, just nine weeks after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear during an attack at a rally that was dangerously close to being fatal?

As I delved deeper into this recent incident, I found myself increasingly puzzled and angered.

It’s common knowledge that Donald Trump frequently indulges in golfing on weekends at his primary residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Additionally, it’s no secret that he usually plays at his own Trump International Golf Club.

Therefore, any potential assassin could have easily deduced his playing schedule since they could simply track the public movements of the extensive presidential motorcade from his nearby estate, Mar-a-Lago.

In fact, isn’t it the most obvious location for an attacker to plan an assault?

For approximately four hours, the target is exposed in the open air, and golf courses offer countless hiding spots, from large bushes to tall trees and fences.

Given the catastrophic security lapse in July when a shooter was able to lay on a roof just 150 yards from a Trump rally stage, one would have assumed that the Secret Service would have taken extreme measures to prevent anyone from getting that close to their protectee again.

Unfortunately, I was profoundly mistaken.

This new gunman managed to conceal himself behind a chain-link fence on a section of the course, a mere 300-500 yards from Trump, equipped with a scoped AK-47 assault rifle and a Go-Pro camera, presumably to document the shooting, and waited for his target to arrive minutes later.

Luckily, a vigilant Secret Service agent, who was walking ahead of Trump by one hole, spotted the suspect’s rifle barrel protruding and promptly engaged him, causing the suspect to flee the scene.

The agent deserves immense credit for likely saving Trump’s life.

Nevertheless, I’m not inclined to laud the Secret Service for this.

The fact that the shooter was able to get so close represents yet another egregious security blunder of alarming magnitude, particularly coming so soon after the previous incident.

Why wasn’t the entire perimeter of the course under surveillance?

The explanation is shocking.

During a press briefing on Sunday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw stated that Trump would have had heightened security if he were still in office. “He’s not the sitting president,” Bradshaw said. “If he was, we would’ve had the entire golf course surrounded. Because he’s not, the security is limited to areas the Secret Service deems possible.”

Have you ever heard of anything as ludicrous?

Trump was already a significant target for assassins due to his tenure as president, during which he authorized the killings of top Iranian general Qassim Suleimani and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

This is not to mention that he was recently shot and is the Republican nominee for an election just seven weeks away.

Despite all these factors, the Secret Service seemingly failed to recognize that him being present on a golf course for extended periods posed a grave risk for potential assassins, unlike the level of security part-time President Biden enjoys while relaxing on the beach.

The primary duty of the Secret Service is to safeguard American presidents and vice presidents, both past and present.

The agency is blatantly falling short in this regard.

As Eric Trump remarked on Sunday evening: “My father is running out of lives.”

Indeed, he is.

I shudder at the thought of what would befall America if Trump were ever assassinated.

The previous Secret Service director was compelled to resign following the rally debacle, and I am of the opinion that the new director, Ronald Rowe, must also step down.

In terms of the political ramifications of this recent assassination attempt, it can only serve as a significant boost to Trump, much like the previous one did.

Once again, he exhibited remarkable composure in a life-threatening situation, with witnesses attesting that his chief concern was ensuring the safety of others on the course with him at the time, rather than his own. In fact, his predominant emotion, according to an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, was frustration at not being able to complete his birdie putt on the hole he was playing!

Regardless of one’s opinions towards him, Trump has displayed tremendous courage in the face of these threats to his life, a characteristic that won’t go unnoticed by an American populace that values strong leadership in their presidents.

The latest incident has overshadowed a news cycle that was dominated by the negative fallout from his debate defeat last week to Democratic rival Kamala Harris, particularly his unfounded and racially charged allegations against Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, his ill-advised alliance with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer (You need to surround yourself with better individuals, President Trump), and his regrettable decision to post “I hate Taylor Swift!” on his Truth Social online platform on Sunday morning prior to his round of golf.

It’s a remarkable twist of fate that precisely when he was enduring the most challenging week of his presidential campaign, Trump has been handed a lifeline for the upcoming election by another assassination attempt on his life.