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President Joe Biden has said he will ensure the Secret Service has “every resource” to keep Donald Trump safe after a second “assassination attempt” on his life.

The president said he was “relieved” Mr Trump was “unharmed” after 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested in connection with shots being fired near to where the former president was playing golf at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

It is believed the gunman didn’t fire any shots but was “lying in wait” for Mr Trump when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel coming out of a perimeter fence surrounding the course, Palm Beach State’s attorney Dave Aronberg told MSNBC.

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An AK-47 type assault rifle weapon with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro device were later recovered hidden in the shrubbery.

In a statement after the scare, Mr Biden said he “commends” the work of the Secret Service but said he has “directed [his] team to continue to ensure that the service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety”.

Donald Trump (centre) with House Speaker Mike Johnson and his wife Kelly. Pic: X/MikeJohnson
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Donald Trump (centre) with House Speaker Mike Johnson and his wife Kelly on Sunday after the incident. Pic: X/MikeJohnson

It comes after some hit out at the service, questioning how the gunman was able to get within approximately 500 yards of Mr Trump – the second apparent bid on Mr Trump’s life in nine weeks, after the Republican presidential nominee was injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in July.

Secret Service needs to ‘step up protection’

Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and Republican, wrote on X saying the state would be conducting its own investigation into the incident as people “deserve the truth about the would-be assassin” who got so close to Mr Trump.

Fellow Republican and former rival of Mr Trump for this year’s presidential candidacy Vivek Ramaswamy called for the Secret Service to “step up its protection”.

Pic: Ryan Routh / Facebook
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Suspect Ryan Routh is in police custody. Pic: Ryan Routh/Facebook

Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
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An AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera were found on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club. Pic: AP

Describing Sunday’s incident as “unacceptable and un-American”, he said: “I’m calling on [the] Secret Service to IMMEDIATELY step up its protection for President Trump to the same level they provide to Biden, there’s no excuse not to at this point.

“America is skating on thin ice, and I thank God we’ve now averted tragedy twice this summer.”

Speaking to Sky News, Julia Manchester, political reporter for The Hill, said there will be “quite a lot of questions” about the Secret Service and federal law as people wonder how the former president’s life has been threatened for a second time.

“We don’t yet have a motive from the suspect, we don’t know what was behind this,” she said. “We have seen an increasing just nasty rhetoric across the board in the United States. It has really been building up.

“I think you are going to hear calls for more gun control. Overall, there is going to be a larger conversation about political rhetoric and how it can lead to political violence.”

The Secret Service came under increasing scrutiny following the first assassination attempt on Mr Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

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Trump ‘apparent assassination bid’ timeline

It led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who admitted to Congress that her agency had its “most significant operational failure” in decades.

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Ronald Rowe has since stepped up as the head of the service. He is understood to be on his way to West Palm Beach following the events in Florida, officials have told Sky News’s US partner network NBC News.

Officers ‘pre-empted’ attack

Despite pressure from some, the Trump campaign credited the “great work” of agents for keeping everyone safe, including Mr Trump.

Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service, Ronald L. Rowe, Jr. appears before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
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Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe is believed to be travelling to West Palm Beach. Pic: Reuters

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Senior Democrats also defended the actions of the service.

The secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, who serves under Mr Biden and Kamala Harris, said the safety and security of presidential candidates was “the highest priority” for the service, and that officers had managed to “pre-empt” the attack and protect Mr Trump.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “applauded” the Secret Service “for their quick response to ensure former President Trump’s safety”.

“There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” he added. “The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin wants to meet – and that he and Barack Obama ‘probably’ like each other

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Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin wants to meet - and that he and Barack Obama 'probably' like each other

Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.

Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.

“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.

“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.

“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”

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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July 2017. Pic: AP
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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July 2017. Pic: AP

Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’

Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obama at Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.

The pair sat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.

Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.

Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.

“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.

“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”

The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.

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Insults continued for years, with Mr Obama famously dedicating much of his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech in 2016 to jokes at his political rival’s expense.

Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.

On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”

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LA wildfires: One daughter’s haunting account of her father’s fatal decision to stay in his home

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LA wildfires: One daughter's haunting account of her father's fatal decision to stay in his home

“He was asleep in his bed, where he still is right now, as I wait on the coroner.”

The haunting words of Kimiko Nickerson stopped us in our tracks.

Her father Rodney, 82, was sure the fire wouldn’t reach his home in Altadena. He was wrong.

The inferno cut through this quiet suburb north of Los Angeles at an alarming rate, its path unpredictable.

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She said: “He just didn’t want to evacuate. He’s been living here since 1968, and he’s been in Altadena my whole life.

“Like all of us on this block, in four blocks, he didn’t think it was going to be this devastating.

“It jumped whole streets, and it hit this community, but it didn’t touch the mountainside at all.”

They’re still trying to process the apocalyptic scenes here and grieving for those who did not get out.

Kimiko said: “I have no words to explain my feelings at this point in time.

“I’m just silent and numb and just mentally trying to go through the process.”

Rodney Nickerson decided not to leave his Altadena home.
Pic: Kimiko Nickerson
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Rodney Nickerson decided not to leave his Altadena home.
Pic: Kimiko Nickerson

‘Truly apocalyptic scenes’ as flames swallow homes in LA wildfires evacuation zone

It would be impossible to exaggerate the scale of the destruction, cars burnt to a cinder, palm trees still alight, powerlines strewn across roads.

So many people have lost the roof over their head but there’s one thing Kimiko says she’ll never lose – her memories.

“Every laugh, every joke he told.

“He was a smart man. He read the LA Times from cover to cover and walked around the Rose Bowl every day.

“He was healthy, he was ambitious… but he went to sleep and died in his bed back there.”

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Donald Trump to be sentenced today over porn star hush money after Supreme Court rejects appeal

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Donald Trump to be sentenced today over porn star hush money after Supreme Court rejects appeal

The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.

Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.

By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.

Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.

At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.

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Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP
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Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP

Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.

Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.

Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.

Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.

Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.

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