The Secret Service must completely rethink and revise its plans for protecting President Donald J. Trump.
Trump’s safety is clearly threatened. He has thankfully survived two assassination efforts.
The propaganda media and political left’s language continue to incite violence against the former and potentially future president.
The Secret Service’s reaction to the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, was clearly inadequate. Agents failed to detect and stop the would-be assassin. A local policeman fired the shot that killed the gunman. Trump’s life was saved by the grace of God and that officer — not the Secret Service.
Now we have had a second serious effort to kill Trump. The Secret Service is claiming success because its agent found the suspected assassin about 400 yards ahead of President Trump’s position. However, this close call could have been catastrophic.
The suspect had reportedly been on the golf course since 1 a.m. It was essentially pure luck that an agent saw the gun barrel sticking out of the bushes. The suspect was clearly within range. The rifle and scope he carried were capable of firing a fatal shot at that distance.
After the first attempt on Trump’s life, I warned Sean Hannity on July 13 that it was a political act that we should have seen coming:
“It was a deliberate act. And as you know, because we’ve talked about it off-air, I’ve said for four months that when all the legal baloney fails and when they begin to realize he is going to win, the violence is the next thing because they’re that desperate.”
So we have had months for the Secret Service to come to grips with the scale of the challenge. It has failed. Simply adding a few more agents is not an answer. The Secret Service must undertake a completely new model of protecting Trump. It was an especially bad sign when its first reaction was to prevent the former president from playing golf because agents could not figure out how to protect him.
This public admission of its inability to think big and creatively enough made me wonder if the Trump team should bring in private sector protection service.
However, if Trump sticks with the Secret Service, then we should insist that it plans on the scale of the threat to Trump.
There are more than 7,000 agents in the Secret Service. They should reassign as many as necessary to have airtight coverage wherever Trump goes. Further, the Secret Service should consider military security systems, such as air base protection, and incorporate those technical capabilities. A drone carrying an infrared detection system could have been flown over the golf course an hour before President Trump arrived, and it would have immediately detected the warm body lying in the shrubbery.
The agents assigned to protect Trump — or any American president — should be placed entirely on their merit and nothing else. Diversity, equity and inclusion rules should not play a role.
There must be greatly expanded cooperation between the Secret Service and local law enforcement. In both assassination attempts, local police played major roles. This should be expanded and made routine. There must also be coordinated communication with all the local agencies (which would prove invaluable in a real national crisis).
Increased K-9 unit capabilities are needed. When an area is swept, people and dogs can be left behind to ensure no one comes in after the first sweep.
As those who wish to harm Trump grow more desperate, they may become more inventive. A drone threat is a real possibility and must be guarded against. Portable, mobile anti-drone systems should become part of the protective services. Coordination with the military and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency may become vital to keeping up with and countering threats.
The Secret Service must allocate the resources, manpower and skills to overmatch and defeat any plausible threat. The very fabric of American society requires that presidential candidates are protected from assassination.
This is a key moment for the survival of the American system.
The American people should demand that their government meet the challenge.
Newt Gingrich is a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
