Trump Set to Receive Report on Assassination Attempts Next Week, Aims for Disclosure
The president mentioned that numerous questions regarding the two assassination attempts, their perpetrators, and any potential accomplices remain unresolved.
President Donald Trump stated he anticipates a report from the Secret Service next week concerning the attempts on his life last year, and he is inclined to make the information public if doing so does not compromise security.
“I want to find the answers,” Trump expressed on March 6 from the Oval Office. “I want to find out. I want to see it myself.”
Contingent upon no unforeseen issues, he noted his intention is to release the documents.
“Perhaps there’s a reason not to, and I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m very open to it,” Trump remarked.
The president encountered unprecedented violence during his campaign, as he was the target of two assassination attempts within a two-month span.
Gunfire erupted on the evening of July 13, 2023, while Trump was addressing a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One bullet grazed his ear, while others struck attendees, resulting in the death of firefighter Corey Comperatore and critical injuries to two others.
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A Secret Service sniper reacted within moments, fatally shooting 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was concealed on a nearby rooftop armed with a rifle.
After hitting the ground amidst the chaos, Trump stood up and shouted, “Fight, fight, fight!” He was quickly sheltered by his security detail and transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of the injury to his upper right ear.
In the aftermath of the first incident, Trump’s popularity surged across various demographic groups, and images of him raising his fist with blood streaming down his face became viral on social media.
Preliminary investigations indicated that Crooks was using foreign applications, something the president expressed interest in exploring further.
Amid mounting criticism regarding security failures, Kimberly Cheatle, the then-director of the Secret Service, resigned.
The second assassination attempt took place on September 15, 2024, at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A Secret Service agent observed the end of a rifle emerging from the bushes at the edge of the golf course and discharged his weapon, prompting the suspect to flee.
According to court documents, FBI agents found a loaded SKS semiautomatic rifle with a scope around 400 yards from where Trump was playing golf, in the area where 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh had been hiding. Routh was later captured driving north on I-95.
The attempted assassin was apprehended, and agents allegedly recovered the rifle with the serial numbers erased, two backpacks, a letter stating his intention to kill Trump, and six cell phones from his possession.
Routh faces charges of attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and three counts related to firearms. His trial is slated for September 8 in Miami.
“Why would someone possess six cell phones?” Trump questioned. “That’s an unusual number of cell phones, and some displayed odd markings.”
He remarked that the obscurity surrounding the assassination attempts is fostering suspicions of a cover-up aimed at protecting possible co-conspirators.
“There could be,” Trump stated. “It leads people to speculate; it also makes me think that to some degree.”
Critics of the Secret Service argued that Crooks’ age and his apparent prior knowledge of how, when, and where to execute his attack left many questions unanswered.
The president criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their inaction.
“Biden should have released that information long ago,” Trump asserted. “The FBI has been silent on this matter. They wouldn’t provide any explanations. I’d say that raises some suspicions.”
Congressional lawmakers initiated an inquiry, establishing a special task force to investigate the Pennsylvania incident. This task force identified “significant failures in the planning, execution, and leadership of the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners.”
In December 2024, the task force released a report recommending 37 action points to rectify security shortcomings and proposed “overarching structural changes” to enhance security and prevent future events.
