Secret Service officials are reported to be encouraging Donald Trump’s campaign to stop holding outdoor rallies in the wake of the 13 July assassination attempt on the former president at a fairground in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The move, reported by the Washington Post, comes as Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following a combative grilling before a congressional committee by both Democrats and Republicans over apparent security failures before an attempt on Trump’s life by a 20-year-old gunman.
In a resignation letter, Cheatle said she’d made the “difficult” decision to leave the agency “with a heavy heart” and acknowledged that the agency “fell short” of its mission “to protect our nation’s leaders”, referring to the Butler rally.
The Trump campaign, which may have favored outdoor venues until the shooting because of their larger crowd capacity, is not currently planning further outdoor events and instead is looking to book indoor venues, including basketball arenas, according to the outlet.
During a rally in an arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Trump appeared to lament that some supporters had been left outside. The Republican candidate is also known for exaggerating crowd estimates, dating back at least to his inauguration in 2017.
Since launching his first presidential bid, Trump has held hundreds of outdoor rallies that have become like festivals for his most ardent supporters, featuring tailgate parties and vendors hawking Trump memorabilia and campaign merchandise.
According to the Post, Trump advisers had told the Secret Service the 2024 re-election campaign was planning to hold large events, and would need increased protection and assets. But the agency is believed to have turned down the requests, citing a lack of resources.
If Trump now holds rallies in more secure locations, such as sports arenas, they will prove more expensive to the campaign.
The rally site in Butler where the attempted assassination took place had clear sightlines to the stage far beyond its security perimeter, including the roof from which suspected shooter Thomas Matthews Crooks fired off an estimated seven rounds before being fatally shot by Secret Service snipers.
It has since been reported that Crooks was able to scout out the rally site with a drone and had been identified as “suspicious” an hour before the event. The presidential protection agency had assigned security of the roof to local law enforcement and had been notified of a suspicious person minutes before the shooting took place.
Former White House physician Ronny Jackson, now a Texas representative, said at the weekend that the bullet that grazed Trump’s ear came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head”.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, appointed Ronald Rowe, deputy director of the Secret Service, to serve as the acting director until a permanent replacement is chosen.
