Donald Trump survived the Russia collusion hoax, partisan impeachments, rigged show trials, and now an assassination attempt.
But Trump wasn’t prepared for this.
And Donald Trump received one horrible threat that will change his campaign for good.
Secret Service warns Trump against outdoor rallies
The conduct of the Secret Service is under a microscope.
Disgraced former Director Kim Cheatle resigned after a series of security failures led to an assassin shooting Donald Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The gunman was able to fly a drone over the rally site two hours before Trump spoke.
The Secret Service was aware of a threat more than ten minutes prior to Trump’s speech but still let Trump take the stage.
And Cheatle admitted the roof where the gunman shot from was not included in the security perimeter, despite it being less than 150 yards from the stage and had a clear line of sight to the podium.
It was only through a miracle that Trump survived.
Now, the Secret Service appears to be threatening that they can’t protect Trump if he tries to run a regular Presidential campaign.
The Washington Post is reporting the Secret Service is warning Trump not to hold any more outdoor rallies.
“Secret Service officials encouraged Donald Trump’s campaign to stop scheduling large outdoor rallies and other outdoor events with big crowds after the assassination attempt on the former president in Butler, Pa., according to people familiar with the matter,” The Post reported.
Trump held many outdoor rallies in 2016 and 2020.
Security was never a problem in those races.
Now, The Post reports the Secret Service wants Trump to curtail his campaign activities.
“The rallies have long been viewed as onerous by the Secret Service because they include complicated outdoor venues with thousands — if not tens of thousands — of people,” The Post reports.
Trump faces a new obstacle
Trump is the first former President to run for re-election since Teddy Roosevelt.
The Secret Service wants to treat Trump like a typical former President.
“Most other former Presidents rarely appear in public, and when they do, they usually appear in settings such as conferences and restaurants with fewer people. Trump requires a much larger security footprint than other past presidents because he holds so many large events,” The Post also reported.
But the Trump campaign made it clear Trump planned for big outdoor rallies as part of their campaign, yet the Secret Service routinely denied Trump the necessary protection.
“In early 2024, Trump advisers told the Secret Service they were planning to do large events regularly, and would need increasing amounts of protection and assets, a person familiar with the conversation said,” The Post report added.
“But the two sides often battled over resources — with requests from Trump’s detail being rejected by the Secret Service,” The Post report continued.
Politics is about creating compelling visuals.
Donald Trump speaking to crowds of 30,000 people at outdoor rallies is a big advantage when the best Kamala Harris can do at her launch is 3,000 people in a high school gym.
Those images feed a sense of momentum to voters.
And now the Secret Service is trying to take that away from Trump.
