The president returned to the stage just months after gunfire abruptly ended the organization’s annual banquet in April. An armed suspect, Cole Allen, stormed the event in what authorities say was an attempt to assassinate Trump.

“The speech that I had ready just a short while. Oh, that was going to be a doozy. I was so psyched. I was going to rip people. And I don’t know, just something changed it — really for the better. But I just wouldn’t want to do that,” Trump told the room full of journalists and government officials.

“But we’ll do a little ripping, if you don’t mind. But it is true. I said, how do we handle this is going to be a different kind of evening. And it is. And in many ways it’s a more beautiful evening, actually.”

Trump delivered a speech that ran longer than expected — one hour and four minutes — opening with his typical walk-out song, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” and immediately joking about seeking a third term.

“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better. It’s always better, and the third time will be better yet. I’m only kidding,” Trump said to chuckles throughout the room.

The president thanked the Secret Service for its work protecting him during the April attack and every day since.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became an early target of Trump’s humor.

“I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloins, very special beef. And I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy, who’s right here personally, ran over the cow and his car,” Trump joked.

Trump took aim at Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, with a pointed routine about weight.

“You can’t have somebody like a J.B. Pritzker who I understand is not president, sadly. But, you know, some people say never used a fat word. And I know I would never call anybody fat,” Trump said.

“I have my own problems, you know, it’s not like I’m perfect, sir. In the back. Don’t call him a fat pig, okay? That’s. I’m sticking up for him. Don’t call him you. You can’t do that, sir. You can’t call J.B. Pritzker a fat pig.”

The president mocked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s criticism of Israel and his increasingly vocal positions on the Israel-Hamas war.

“I’m going to send him a beautiful Palestinian outfit tomorrow so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to town next week.”

Trump also targeted California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, though he spent more time on congressional age and energy levels.

“The other day, a senator I knew got a text… ‘When you get home, I want to have you immediately come up the stairs and make love to me.’ And he said, ‘I can’t do both,” Trump joked, saying the senator only has enough energy for one of those activities.

He used the moment to call for term limits: “All joking aside, I do think we need term limits in Congress.”

The WHCA honored U.S. Secret Service Officer Victor Gonzales during Friday’s dinner in recognition of his actions helping stop Allen from entering the ballroom.

Allen, a computer scientist from Torrance, California, traveled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. by Amtrak after purchasing a one-way ticket. Court filings say he sent a manifesto to family and friends shortly before the attack, describing political motivations and apologizing for his actions.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempting to assassinate the president, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, transporting a firearm across state lines, and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

“The attempted mass murder at the Washington Hilton, that’s what it could have been, was an assault on our democracy itself,” Trump said.

Former WHCA president Weijia Jiang presented the award to Gonzales.

“One officer placed himself directly in harm’s way and engaged the armed suspect, even after gunfire struck his protective vest. He stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped,” Jiang said.

During the speech, Trump highlighted his White House Ballroom project following heat for the $200 million construction.

“In light of what we went through, I think, people understand it. It’s going to be amazing, a phenomenal one of the biggest drone ports anywhere in the world,” Trump said, referencing gunfire at the first WHCA Dinner.

Trump vowed to attend next year’s WHCA dinner.

“They said, ‘Would you do it next year?’ I said, ‘I will be back next year,'” Trump said. “Now, if you get really, really nasty, maybe not. I don’t know. But we’re going to be back next year.”

In his closing remarks, Trump said he has a “scoop” for the press — announcing he is running for the fourth time.

He put on a red “TRUMP 2028” hat.

The event was relocated to the Waldorf Astoria with a smaller guest list than the traditional Washington Hilton venue.

Trump acknowledged the speech he prepared for April would have been far more combative.

“Oh, that was going to be a doozy. I was so psyched. I was going to rip people, and I don’t know. Just something changed. It’s really for the better, I just wouldn’t want to do that.”

The president praised members of his administration who showed courage during the April attack, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House border czar Tom Homan.

“Very serious situation, many of you were there with me, and some showed extreme bravery, like Pete Hegseth, Steve Miller, Tom Homan,” Trump said. “They were standing on tables, and most of you were under the tables.”

Trump continued: “I didn’t know if they were brave, if they were smart, if they were stupid as hell. But they were on those tables in some cases, and there were a lot of different feelings going on in the room at that moment.”

Armed suspect Cole Allen rushed past security at the April event and fired at least one round from a 12-gauge shotgun, according to authorities. Secret Service rushed the president and first lady from the room as guests ducked for cover.

The president gave special recognition to Secret Service agent Victor Gonzales, who was shot during the April attack at the Washington Hilton.

“So to Officer Gonzales, Secret Service, Metropolitan Police, law enforcement generally, and even all of the military surrounding us in the room tonight, we salute you and we thank you with all of our hearts.”

The agent received a standing ovation from the crowd.

White House Correspondent Association President Weijia Jiang also addressed the dinner, emphasizing the importance of celebrating the free press despite the April disruption.

“We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for,” Jiang said.

The remarks come as the nation approaches its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.

William Upham, a Republican write-in candidate for Florida’s 5th Congressional District who describes himself as a prosecutor “running to fix a broken political system,” posted a nearly seven-minute video that quickly turned from campaign promises to religious conspiracy.

Upham opens the video by saying he entered the race to restore bipartisanship and return power to the working class.

The tone quickly shifts, however, as Upham says he has come to believe the country is “broken” and that America is engaged in a spiritual battle.

“We are led by a president who is the enemy of God.”

Upham then cited Bible passages and discussed the oath he took as a Marine officer to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

He claimed there is “no doubt” Trump is “the Antichrist.”

“He is a false messiah. And he is your enemy. And he must be ended,” Upham said in the video.

Later, Upham urged viewers to question whether they are “worshiping a false idol” before concluding, “President Trump is the Antichrist. And he will be ended and sent to hell. God will prevail against evil.”

The U.S. Marine Corps quickly condemned Upham, saying he was medically discharged May 30, 2025.

“The Marine Corps is aware of the disturbing statements made by William Upham,” the service wrote on X. “The comments made by Upham are a direct violation of the oath he swore to uphold and are not in keeping with the service’s values.”

The U.S. Secret Service acknowledged the comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the comments made by a congressional candidate in Florida, and we investigate anything that can be perceived as a threat toward one of our protectees.”

A Secret Service spokesperson added, “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao also condemned the remarks, writing on X, “Unacceptable. William Upham is no longer a Marine and does not represent our values or ethos.”

Upham describes himself on X as a prosecutor running to fix a broken political system. He is a write-in candidate with no major party backing.

The video comes as threats against President Trump remain a concern for federal law enforcement. Trump has survived three separate attempts on his life since announcing his third presidential campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, the White House and Upham’s campaign for comment.

The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.

Firefighter and father Corey Comperatore gave his life shielding his family from the gunfire.

That moment should have shocked the nation into ending political violence once and for all.

Instead, left-wing violence has only escalated.

In the two years since Butler, several more attempts on Trump’s life have followed — and the left’s rhetoric has only grown more dangerous.

Roughly two months after Butler, Ryan Routh was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison for hiding near Trump’s Florida golf course with a rifle, intent on taking him out.

This past February, authorities shot 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin after he trespassed onto Mar-a-Lago armed with a shotgun and a fuel can, refusing to drop his weapon when ordered.

Weeks later, 31-year-old California resident Cole Allen rushed past a Secret Service checkpoint armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. He was headed toward the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and cabinet members were attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April. Law enforcement subdued him before he reached the ballroom.

The violence hasn’t been limited to the president.

Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was taken from us by a left-wing radical while speaking to students at a Utah college campus in September.

Then there’s the case of 26-year-old Colin Demarco, who allegedly showed up to the home of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wearing a surgical mask and gloves in an alleged attempt to harm him. The man reportedly said he feared a “fascist takeover” from the Trump administration.

The leftist violence has also targeted our institutions.

A 41-year-old man was arrested on bomb charges in late 2025 after he showed up to a Mass that Supreme Court justices traditionally attend to mark the beginning of the term.

This past December, four far-left extremists were arrested for allegedly planning a series of New Year’s Eve bombings and an ambush on ICE officers in Los Angeles.

The left-wing violence against immigration enforcement has continued to escalate this year, with one rioter biting off an ICE agent’s finger in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.

In May, a rioter was charged for allegedly kicking and biting ICE officers at a New Jersey illegal immigrant holding center, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X. Another individual was arrested after threatening to end the life of an immigration officer and his family, Blanche said.

Prosecutors allege that it was a left-wing arsonist who started the Palisades fire. The wildfire caused at least 12 confirmed losses — and potentially hundreds of others — while creating billions in damage.

Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed by a left-wing arsonist who targeted the governor over Palestine, according to police.

Just as troubling is the left’s normalization of rhetoric that explicitly and implicitly encourages political violence.

Democrats in Virginia overwhelmingly elected Jay Jones to serve as the state’s attorney general in November despite messages showing Jones fantasized about harming his Republican colleagues and their children.

Similarly, Democrat Elliot Forhan ran on ending his opponents’ lives, promising to “legally” end Trump’s life if he were elected as Ohio’s attorney general. He was defeated in the May primary.

A tragic moment that should have marked the apex of political violence in the United States two years ago has today proven to be only the tip of the iceberg in the left’s campaign against Trump and conservatives.

Told you. @FBI just arrested the man who threatened to kill ICE officers and their families. FAFO. https://t.co/ai2Y46nmOR

— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) May 30, 2026

The leakers are.

Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt received federal grand jury subpoenas ordering them to testify in Manhattan next Wednesday. The subpoenas follow the reporters’ Wednesday article exposing that President Trump switched planes mid-trip from Turkey due to security gaps in his new Air Force One.

According to the Times‘ own reporting, the new plane — donated by Qatar — lacks advanced antimissile capabilities. Citing anonymous sources, the paper reported the Secret Service urged Trump to depart Turkey on the older, more secure plane, then switch to the new aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in England.

“We have it going to Europe to a couple of bases so the soldiers can see it because it’s truly magnificent,” Trump told reporters during the NATO conference.

The president denied security drove the decision, saying the new jet needed to make stops at U.S. military bases.

Before publication, an FBI official contacted the Times requesting the story be held as a potential national security risk. The official declined to explain the specific threat, the paper said.

DOJ spokeswoman Emily Covington made the administration’s target crystal clear Saturday: not the press, but whoever leaked classified Air Force One security details.

“We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but [the] DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information,” Covington said. “We recognize there may always be natural tension there, but we are not going to ignore the law.”

The Times responded with outrage, calling the subpoenas “an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations.”

David McCraw, the paper’s top lawyer, claimed the move aims to “prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.”

The subpoenas come amid renewed Iran threats against Trump’s life and escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities. The reporters’ article cited the alleged Iranian assassination plot as context for the Secret Service security concerns.

The subpoenas contain few specifics beyond requesting testimony “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law,” according to the Times.

The case raises questions about how classified presidential security details ended up in the hands of New York Times reporters — and who inside the government leaked them.

During a field hearing on the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on Monday, former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince provided detailed analysis on security failures that were evident during and in the lead up to the assassination attempt.

U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) — a former SEAL Team sniper who did multiple combat tours in Iraq — began by asking Mr. Prince about his company’s record.

After leaving the SEAL Teams, Prince founded Blackwater initially as a training company for law enforcement and military units. Upon the outbreak of the war on terror, Blackwater shifted to providing security for diplomats and other high-profile protectees in active war zones. A total of 41 Blackwater contractors — the majority of whom were U.S. special forces veterans — were killed in action during the Iraq war.

Blackwater has the distinction of having never lost a protectee.

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During Monday’s hearing, Rep. Crane asked Prince whether he believes the Secret Service can counter a more serious threat in its current state. “You said something interesting on an episode of Sean Ryan that I saw a couple weeks ago. You said, thank God it was a 20-year-old kid and not a 10-man Hezbollah team. Can you expound on that a little bit?” Crane asked.

“Sure, because the fact that a 20-year-old kid could get his drone in the air, could get himself into a firing position only 140 yards away. 140 yards is point-blank range. My then 12-year-old son could have made that shot. And thank God that 20-year-old aimed at a headshot at President Trump. Because if he’d aimed center mass, President Trump would probably be dead,” Prince replied, noting that the former president was not wearing any protective armor at the time.

“A Hezbollah team or ISIS or you name the terrorist organization that actually knows what they’re doing would have been successful that day. And the Secret Service was nearly defeated by a 20 year old and we all, including Donald Trump, literally dodged a bullet that day,” Prince added.

“So I want to double down on that real quick. In your opinion, in your professional opinion, is the Secret Service in its current form and leadership able to stop a threat like that?” Crane followed up.

“President Trump was definitely deprived of resources that day for whatever their political reason. They had one third the amount of agents covering him as we’re covering Jill Biden in the same region at an indoor event. She had 12 post-holders covering her Again, no statutory or constitutional authority for the first lady,” the Blackwater founder answered.

Prince went on to list a number of security failures evident during the lead up to and actual day of the Butler, Pennsylvania rally, including the fact that Secret Service agents left the rooftop uncovered, failed to sync up with local law enforcement radios, and overall lack of communication.

“To even when shots were fired, the clumsy, unprofessional way of getting the protectee off the X, there was catastrophic failure across the entire enterprise.”

Elsewhere in the hearing, Prince pointed to waste and unchecked incompetence that permeates the entire federal government.

“We’re here today to discuss a tragedy for the United States of America that could have been the catalyst in the destruction of our republic. World War I started with botched diplomatic security. The assassination of one party’s leading candidate a mere four months before the election, at minimum, would have unleashed unimaginable chaos and violence,” Prince told lawmakers.

“The cancerous rot of unaccountability has metastasized throughout our entire body politic. Our obscene levels of government waste ooze like a gelatinous mold across society. Our borders, so porous they are reminiscent of a spring flood tide. The security apparatus suffers failure upon failure globally. Our enemies mocking us even while the permanent deep state has weaponized the justice system and delivers a Soviet style of lawfare. In the case of Butler, Pennsylvania, only the disinfectant of transparency and accountability will start to repair the cascading errors that led to the tragedy.”

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Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) — who is assisting with  a bipartisan Senate investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump — told Fox News that the FBI and Secret Service are “slow walking” the investigation.

“All I can really tell you is the Secret Service and the FBI are basically dragging their feet. They’re stonewalling us,” Johnson told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.

“We’ve gotten some transcribed interviews, but the documents we request are heavily redacted. They’re delivered you know, the day of the interview, so we really can’t use the documents to conduct the interviews effectively. So, we’re not getting squat from my standpoint from the Secret Service or FBI,” he continued. “We’ve requested all of their 302’s, their transcriptions of their interviews with hundreds of individuals. They’re not turning those over to us as well.”

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The lack of transparency, Johnson continued, is only adding to suspicion surrounding the attempt on Trump’s life, which killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore as he shielded his family from gunfire. The Wisconsin senator described the FBI’s decision to cremate would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ body before any autopsy or toxicology reports could be done as “jaw-dropping.”

“Again, it’s just driving suspicion and conspiracy theories,” Johnson said.

On Monday, several members of the U.S. House of Representatives gathered for a field hearing on the assassination attempt and the status of the investigation. Members who participated in the hearing — including U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Cory Mills (R-FL) Matt Gates (R-FL) and Chip Roy (R-TX) — raised similar concerns to those raised by Johnson.

Rep. Roy listed a number of irregularities surrounding the investigation that have been chalked up to “incompetence” on the part of law enforcement personnel before asking a panel of experts if they found it unusual. Lawmakers heard testimony from former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, Blackwater founder Erik Prince and SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer, who was working in Butler, Pennsylvania during the assassination attempt.

Roy began by noting that Crooks fired from a building located outside the building. “Do you believe that you can just chalk up to mere incompetence,that the Secret Service did not attend the nine o’clock meeting for scheduling purposes? They literally just didn’t attend.”

Local law enforcement personnel have stated that the Secret Service did not attend a pre-event briefing and ultimately left the roof of the AGR building uncovered due to the heat. They also were not synced up with local law enforcement on radio channels, leading to a delay when a local officer confronted Crooks.

“Can you chalk it up to mere incompetence that they identified crooks about an hour ahead of time and that the President, President Trump, was never removed from the stage, they didn’t delay, they didn’t hold him back, they didn’t remove him from the potential danger,” Roy continued. “That the perimeter did not include the buildings around over here and to the extent, should there have been a perimeter that was farther out and the extent that the perimeter wasn’t farther out, that they at least make sure the building wasn’t covered. Is that just incompetence? Is it just incompetence that there was no drone being flown and the drone was turned down by the Secret Service? Was it just incompetence that the shooter had a drone, as the FBI director testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee, that he literally had flying within a couple hundred feet of the stage the same day mere hours before the shooting?”

Bongino agreed that the security failures are seemingly too “apocalyptic” to be chalked up to mere incompetence alone.

The full exchange can be viewed below.

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Former Secret Service agent turned conservative commentator Dan Bongino tore into his former agency during a recent congressional hearing where he faulted leadership for failing to heed previous warnings that a lack of technology and institutional fortitude was putting the lives of presidents and presidential candidates at risk.

The hearing, convened by a bipartisan committee of U.S. House members probing the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, hopes to shed light on how a deranged 20-year-old gunman was able to position himself on a roof just hundreds of yards away from where Trump was speaking at a July 13th rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Investigations by lawmakers and the FBI have determined a number of shortcomings, some of which involve the Secret Service’s obstinance to adopt modern techniques to combat threatening individuals. “The joke in the Secret Service, which is sadly no longer funny when I was there, and it wasn’t funny then either, is they rely on yesterday’s technology tomorrow,” Bongino stated during a five-minute testimony.

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“Everything from computer systems that waste agents’ times filling out time and attendance records they were doing” and “implementing slings – a technology as old as the wheel – about… five or six years into my time in the Secret Service,” he continued, a delay he called “embarrassing.” In addition, “the weaponry was old. Everything was old. These are things I would’ve talked about sooner if they didn’t create a security crisis.” Another lapse was the lack of a drone at the rally to monitor crowd interactions and scan for suspicious individuals. “Now you’re seeing what happens when you don’t have a drone up at a site you could’ve bought for $39.99 on Amazon,” he quipped.

WATCH:

Robert Rowe, the Secret Service’s acting director who assumed office after the resignation of former director Kimberly Cheatle, has told the committee that he oversees an agency that is expected to do “more with less.” That isn’t a realistic expectation, Bongino explained. “There isn’t more with less, there is less with less. The Secret Service more-with-less approach only works if you produce more.” Comparing his former agency to a television producer that now sells yesterday’s products for a fraction of the price today, Bongino said the Service “was given more money, and produced less.” Over the past 10 years, the agency’s budget has ballooned from $2.34 billion in 2014 to $3.62 billion in 2024, according to small government advocate Downsizing Government. “A 20-year-old criminal outsmarted them on a drone technology piece of device. You’re telling me that’s more with less? That’s disgusting,” Bongino seethed at lawmakers. “That’s less with more.”

Bongino said a third and final area of agency shortcomings is the prioritization of agents’ missions on the job. “Their agents are talented, smart people. They can figure out how to do protection without running down cheap $20 counterfeit notes at 7-Eleven on a Friday night while the president is getting shot in the head.”

Bongino, a former New York police officer, served in the Secret Service from 1999 to 2011 before running three unsuccessful campaigns for Congress. Since then, he has elevated himself through an online platform where he tackles some of the federal government’s most pressing security issues as well as news of the day from a conservative point of view. After additional footage of the Butler rally emerged online, Bongino asked his audience how Secret Service counter-snipers might have been able to miss an obvious threat to the president’s right. “This is a cell phone camera! This is not a zoom, high, telephoto, freaking lens used to film a Marvel movie! It’s a cellphone! You can see the guy clear as day! How did they miss this?!” Bongino said two weeks after the shooting. He claimed that the agency is asking Americans to “believe the implausible” about just how impossible it was to try and stop Crooks from firing the first round.

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The Secret Service is ending its protection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he suspended his campaign in swing states and endorsed former President Donald Trump. The move comes after Kennedy announced that he will be remaining on the ballot in solid red and blue states.

In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13, President Biden instructed the Secret Service to provide security for Kennedy. The independent candidate had requested Secret Service protection on a number of occasions, citing multiple security concerns and thwarted plots, though his requests were repeatedly denied until the attempt on Trump’s life.

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At one point, RFK Jr.’s team claimed to have received evidence of 34 credible instances of threats against him, according to a report from Newsweek. Kennedy — whose father, Robert F. Kennedy and uncle, President John F. Kennedy, were assassinated in the 1960’s — suggested the decision to deny his requests were politically motivated.

Now, just a little over a month after the Secret Service detail was granted, the agency will be ending its protection after Kennedy effectively bowed out of the race.

The Secret Service typically provides protection for the president, vice president, first lady, their immediate family members, former presidents, visiting heads of state, children of former presidents until the age of 16, former first ladies and top presidential candidates. Protection is generally scaled back significantly, if not eliminated entirely, when candidates drop out of the race.

Technically, Kennedy is still a presidential candidate, as he announced his intention to remain on the ballot in less competitive states.

The move comes as the Secret Service continues to find itself under the microscope in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned roughly a week after the shooting, which killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounded several others, including the former president.

In the weeks following the attack, the Secret Service has been accused of poor communication with local law enforcement, which led to key security vulnerabilities.

Several congressional and private investigations into the Secret Service and the attempt on Trump’s life are ongoing.

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The hammer has come down on five U.S. Secret Service agents within the 60-member detail around former President Donald Trump, according to sources who say that five have been suspended more than a month after an assassination attempt that nearly killed former President Donald Trump.

RealClearPolitics has been reporting on developments within the Secret Service as turmoil rocks its upper echelons. Presidential details are among the most prestigious — and stressful — positions that agents can attain during their careers, but since the July 13th shooting the service has been beset by attention drawn to further security failures and agent misconduct. Earlier this month a bipartisan committee of U.S. House members undertook a comprehensive review of personnel and procedures, and Friday’s development appears to come in response to pressure on Acting Director Robert Rowe to deliver consequences.

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The separate sources confirmed that multiple agents in the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh Field Office have been placed on leave, the outlet reported, underscoring the urgency felt by Rowe to assure lawmakers he is in control since the resignation of former director Kimberly Cheatle. Among federal employees, administrative leave is designated when an employee temporarily leaves their position and work duties – either because of a misconduct investigation or medical or mental health issues. Pay and benefits are usually continued, though that is at the discretion of senior officials. Another set of agents has taken over their responsibilities protecting President Trump even though they too were involved in organizing security for the deadly rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The divergent outcomes for each set of agents have spurred consternation within the ranks as Secret Service men and women remain rankled about who is most to blame. The FBI, which is conducting its own investigation, previously reported that the Secret Service failed to maintain clear lines of communication with local authorities they tasked to secure the perimeter of the Trump rally where a gunman was able to scale a warehouse roof and fire a high-powered rifle. During a July 30th congressional hearing, Rowe said he could not understand why Cheatle or agents organizing the event left the rooftop unguarded.

Sources told the outlet that lower-level agents are right to be angry that Rowe has so far been spared the brunt of culpability for the shooting, even though other reports indicated that he was directly involved in denying previous requests from Trump’s team to enhance his protection detail. At the time, counterintelligence officials had reported that Iran was plotting its own assassination attempt against the former president which spurred the requests. Internal emails showed one agent predicting that, without serious reforms at the Secret Service, another attack on Trump’s life before the November elections is “imminent.”

Several other security lapses have occurred since the shooting. At last month’s national Bitcoin conference in Nashville, two credentialed attendees made their way around metal detectors, forcing the Secret Service to keep President Trump backstage while the individuals were apprehended and escorted from the premises. One female agent at Mar-a-Lago was reprimanded for posting compromising pictures to her social media accounts while on duty. Another female agent was found breastfeeding with a child and other family members after leaving her post unannounced.

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