Security fears over the 2024 United States presidential election intensified after a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The former president, who narrowly escaped his life attempted assassin with a rifle at a rally months ago, had been targeted again, this time by a gunman armed with a rifle at one of his private golf courses in Florida.
The Shooting: An Assassin Waiting in the Wings
On Sunday, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, waited in ambush for about 12 hours at Trump International Golf Course, not too far from where Trump was playing a round of golf. Armed with food and a loaded SKS-style rifle, Routh had set up his stakeout by the fifth hole, waiting for the moment to pounce. Miraculously, Secret Service agents charged with Trump's protection didn't catch on to Routh until much later. The action was only taken after the agent caught a glimpse of the muzzle of his rifle. He fired at Routh, driving him to leave before finally getting an adequate shot at Trump.
Later, security personnel caught Routh in a neighbor's county where they found his rifle, digital camera, and other supplies. Still, the big question remains: how could the gunman hide for so long?
The Staffing Crisis in the Secret Service
It is the clearest evidence yet of serious weaknesses within the U.S. Secret Service. The agency is short by about 400 employees as the 2024 election cycle unfolds, a number that far exceeds safe operational levels. Secret Service, which had 7,879 employees as of February 2024, continues to operate under very tight constraints. Agency officials had set an ambition of 8,305 staff by 2023, and growing to 10,000 by 2027 yet they are critically under-resourced.Speaking of the staffing shortfall, Ronald Rowe, acting director of the Secret Service, in a recent interview, explained, "We are redlining them."
Many agents are being pushed to their limits as they are undertaking too many high-pressure assignments at one time. This shortfall worsened after Vice President Kamala Harris assumed the Democratic presidential candidacy following Joe Biden's decision to step down in July.
The Pennsylvania Rally Incident: A Pattern of Failures
This latest assassination attempt arrives in the wake of another chilling incident in Pennsylvania, two months prior. On July 13, a man opened fire at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania from an adjacent building and fired six shots. Although one of them grazed Trump and killed a rally attendee, Secret Service agents were able to move the former president to safety and also neutralize the shooter.
Since the incident, the agency has owned up to several security lapses. Rowe admitted that the gunman should never have had the chance to fire those shots saying he was embarrassed by those lapses. The latest attack at the golf course has only brought to the fore heightened concerns about the capability of the agency in safeguarding protectees in a highly volatile political setup.
Trump's Golfing Habits: A Security Challenge
Another challenge for his protection detail has been the number of times Trump has made visits to his private golf courses. His courses have remained open to club members, whereas military courses that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton often played on closed to make a secure facility. Trump also tends to like private outings-often unannounced-and then often makes surprise visits to others' homes. This has prevented the Secret Service from conducting thorough security sweeps ahead of his visit.
At the weekend, this gap in preparation meant that the Secret Service was unable to take up a detailed site survey on the Trump International Golf Course ahead of President Donald Trump's visit - where the shooter might have been found in advance.
Florida's Legal Response
After the assassination attempt, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his administration would launch a state-level inquiry to prosecute Routh with charged crimes like attempted murder. The state-level investigation by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will run parallel to the federal probe into Routh's attacks on Pence.Routh was also charged at the federal level with illegal possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Court records show Routh has past felony convictions, including for possession of stolen goods in North Carolina in 2002. Federal agents had also scrutinized Routh's online posts and discovered some disturbing comments about Trump and other politicians.
About Routh Background: A Problematic Past
Routh's past actions had raised alarm bells among investigators. In 2023, the New York Times ran a story about Americans volunteering in Ukraine where it had an interview with Routh. Routh had spent months in Ukraine in 2022 and was reported to be recruiting Afghan soldiers to join the fight. Those who met Routh there often described him as exhibiting "odd behavior," some claiming he was a loose cannon.
In Ukraine's Unwinnable War, a self-published book in 2023, Routh lashed into Trump with unrestrained candor, calling him a "fool" and a "buffoon" over the actions he took related to the January 6 Capitol riots and withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. His book also had ominous language related to violence, including stating that he wanted to assassinate Trump, which investigators are reviewing.
Security at a Breaking Point
Against this backdrop, alarm is now growing about the capacity of the Secret Service to safeguard candidates and high-profile persons into the November 5 election. Current and former agents alike, such as Bill Gage, express gloomy views about resources and personnel within the agency. Gage underscored the "immense strain" being placed on agents who are, by themselves, struggling to keep up with their respective demands of extensive duties.Although Congress has finally agreed to increase the budget of the Secret Service to 9% to 3.4 billion dollars by 2024, the agency will hardly be in a position to comply with the needed staff before the election. The hiring process, which accepts only 2% of all applicants, is long-term and takes over 200 days to fill one position. Understaffing and the increasing need to secure candidates closer to the date of the election remain a big threat.
As federal investigators seek to dissect the details surrounding the assassination attempt, attention remains squarely focused on the Secret Service and its ability to prevent further security breaches. That agency fights ahead of it to protect not only Trump but all high-profile figures in this tense election season.
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