Former President Donald Trump now speaks at rallies with bulletproof glass around him. When he exits his plane, a Secret Service agent closely trails him down the steps. And Trump has not golfed since an apparent assassination attempt last week.
On social media Wednesday, Trump said that “Big threats on my life by Iran” have transformed his life on and off the campaign trail.
“I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before,” he wrote in posts on both Truth Social and X.
Indeed, after his remarks at a campaign stop in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump was surrounded by a higher-than-normal number of Secret Service agents, who heavily controlled the direction of his movements as he approached the rope line to greet supporters.
Protocols for Vice President Kamala Harris have also recently shifted. She, too, is surrounded by bulletproof glass at outdoor rallies. Counterassault teams, protective intelligence and enhanced drone systems have all been “upped” in recent weeks, according to a law enforcement official, who, like others in this article, were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Congress just approved funding for both Harris and Trump to receive presidential-level protections, which a security expert said was unprecedented. And, in another sign of heightened protections, black tarp now obscures what once was a clean view of Harris boarding Marine Two at the Naval Observatory in Washington.
The altered environment for the two major-party presidential nominees is emblematic of how campaigning has unfolded after two apparent attempts on Trump’s life since July, as well as a separate, ongoing threat from Iran on Trump.
The threats hang over Trump and Harris at a critical moment in the race, having the potential to fundamentally alter how they reach out to voters. With less than six weeks left, it is a time candidates historically accelerate their travel to battleground states, often booking large rallies.
“They are all now getting presidential-level protection from the U.S. Secret Service, which has never been done before,” said Evy Poumpouras, a former Secret Service agent. “Everything is in a much-heightened state right now. And they are extremely hypervigilant at the moment.”
Poumpouras said getting presidential-level protection can mean getting a counterassault team, a countersurveillance unit, a countersniper response unit and bulletproof vehicles.
“It’s being done because there are two attempts [against Trump]. Attempts historically happen once every couple of decades,” she said. “You typically don’t see one that happens back to back, as we saw basically with President Trump … so that combined with them reporting that the amount of threats that they are getting are just really at a capacity that they’ve not seen before.”
Last week, the Secret Service made the extraordinary admission that it needs a “paradigm shift” in how it protects its principals. That was after Kimberly Cheatle resigned as its director in late July amid criticism of its handling of security before a gunman fired several rounds at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, striking his ear. One person was killed in the shooting, and two people were injured.
Despite heightened scrutiny of the agency after that security failure, another apparent assassination attempt played out last week at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking out of bushes outside the golf course and fired, causing the gunman to flee.
The suspect, Ryan Routh, was later arrested. A criminal complaint said he had been waiting in the bushes for 12 hours. Authorities found abandoned by the bushes a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope that had an “obliterated” serial number.
It is all a marked shift from the 2020 campaign, when pandemic concerns dominated the trail, limiting candidate Joe Biden’s movements and, for a time, curbing Democrats’ door-knocking efforts. Republicans handled it differently, with Trump, then president and fresh from having Covid himself, racing to battleground states and holding rallies.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said at a news conference last week that the agency needed more resources. While Congress has just approved additional funding, a senior administration official said Wednesday the Secret Service will ask for even more later.
A law enforcement official said there have been “significant security enhancements” to both Harris’ and Trump’s operations since the Butler rally, with the candidates now at the “highest level of protection” the Secret Service can offer anyone, anywhere in the world.
On Tuesday, police were investigating gunshots fired at a Democratic Party-coordinated campaign office for Harris in Tempe, Arizona. Police said in a statement that as they investigate, they are taking additional security measures to “ensure the safety of staff and others in the area.”
This week, in one of the most visible signs of an added layer of security, an agent could be seen for the first time following Trump as he descended the stairs of his plane.
“Given recent events, the Secret Service is taking a heightened posture in its protection of the former president,” an agency official said about the additional security. So far, the agency is not expected to have an agent follow Harris from the plane, given that countersnipers are in place any time Air Force Two takes off or lands, the earlier law enforcement official said.
In another change, access to the schedule detailing Trump’s daily movements, which has long gone out not only to staff members but also to some allies, has recently become more restricted because of security concerns, according to a person familiar with the matter.
But that person said Trump had no plans to stop golfing, characterizing it as a social outlet for him.
“You don’t stop Donald from playing golf,” the person said.
Still, a second person familiar with the discussions around Trump’s protection said there is a recognition on the part of both the Secret Service and the Trump campaign that some venues are safer than others. Since the second apparent assassination attempt on Sept. 15, this person said, Trump understands that playing golf increases his exposure, particularly at certain courses that are more accessible to the public.
“There are golf clubs that are easier to secure, and there are golf clubs that are more difficult to secure,” the person said.
Secret Service agents have presented both Harris and Trump with clear threat pictures, pointing out environments that put them more at risk, and golfing is in that category, according to a senior administration official and a person with knowledge of discussions about security.
Layered atop the recent assassination attempts on Trump is an ongoing threat from Iran. In a statement Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung disclosed that Trump had received an intelligence briefing about Iran.
“President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” Cheung said.
An official with the Trump campaign said it had no intention of altering or modifying its campaigning after the briefing.
And on Oct. 5, Trump plans to return to the Butler Farm Show grounds, 12 weeks after he was struck in the ear. Trump had telegraphed as much since he was injured on July 13, saying he planned to return for a “big, beautiful rally.”
This time, though, it will be held with the enhanced security protections, including his expected positioning behind bulletproof glass if the rally is outside. (NBC)