Ronald Rowe met with Donald Trump and presented him with the difficulties of protecting a golf course: open spaces and public roads. As an alternative, he proposed playing on a military base.
Following a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe called on the former president to stop playing golf as he currently does. Rowe met with Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Monday afternoon to outline the agency’s concerns regarding his protection, three sources with knowledge of the conversation told the New York Times.
At this meeting, Rowe explained to Donald Trump that his leisure time on the golf course requires a greater effort from the Secret Service, so keeping it unchanged involves a change in your security detailThis effort is explained because the fields are very large spacessurrounded by public roads, more difficult to control. Just as it is easy to obtain images of the former president playing, taken from the sidelines, it is easy to point a gun at him. Covering the entire perimeter to ensure there are no threats requires a number of agents that are not available, he said.
Donald Trump is far from the first president to play golf frequently, American newspapers note. However, Trump has already mentioned that this is his main form of physical activity, playing several times a week, often Accompanied by members of your team.financiers and other supporters. He also uses courses all over the country, depending on where he is located, sometimes without giving the Secret Service advance notice that he is going to a golf course.
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That’s what happened last Sunday, when the former president was playing in Florida and a shooter, Ryan Wesley Routh, was spotted by agents on the perimeter of the field. At a news conference Monday, Rowe admitted that The Secret Service did not search the perimeterwhere Routh was found to have spent nearly 12 hours. However, the director did not explain whether the lack of searches was due to lack of time to conduct them, as this Trump’s visit was not on his official calendar”The president was not supposed to be there,” Rowe said, noting that in this case, “the Secret Service’s methodologies were effective.”
At the meeting with Donald Trump, he asked if it was safe to continue playing. The Secret Service director suggested using the Andrews Air Force Base Golf CourseIn the State of Maryland, being within a military space, it already has additional protections, and other presidents – during and after their term – also often use it.
In response to Ronald Rowe’s recommendations, the Republican campaign questioned why Donald Trump has to enjoy his free time inside a military base, while Joe Biden can be seen strolling on the beach. In response, the Secret Service pointed out that Biden is the current president and therefore has a higher level of protection, which is not necessary for Trump as a former president, notes the New York Times.
Still, given that this is already the second attack on Trump during the election campaign, the Secret Service has already re-evaluated its need for protection. “Former President Trump is receiving the highest level of protection the Secret Service can provide and we will continue to evaluate and adjust our specific measures and methodology based on each location and situation,” agency spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie told Reuters.
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Tensions have been rising between the Secret Service and Donald Trump’s team, with both sides exchanging barbs over whether or not to increase protection for the former president. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said they had asked for more people “a long time ago.” “I think we’re going to get it now. Someone told me that they are going to give more people now.”he said, without any confirmation from the Secret Service.
Source: Observadora
