Joe Biden says Secret Service needs more help after Trump targeted in apparent assassination attempt
US President Joe Biden has said the Secret Service needs more help after Donald Trump was targeted in an apparent assassination attempt on Sunday.
Mr Biden said he was thankful Mr Trump was “OK” before adding he did not yet have a full report of what happened.
He added: “One thing I want to make clear is that the service needs more help and I think Congress should respond to their needs.”
When asked what extra help the service needs, Mr Biden said it might need to be considered whether the service needs “more personnel or not”.
He made the remarks after the FBI said an “apparent assassination attempt” on Mr Trump was thwarted on Sunday, with a man arrested and an assault rifle recovered.
Mr Trump was playing a round at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in Florida when gunshots were heard.
It is not yet known whether the suspect fired first, fired a round at all or if only the Secret Service fired.
Follow latest: Suspect detained after ‘running out of bushes’
The former US president was on the fifth hole when he was tackled to the ground by security agents fearing an attempt on his life.
The fifth hole in the north-eastern corner of the golf course is just over 300 metres (328 yards) from the southern perimeter fence.
The course is lined with thick foliage, but satellite images show the area between the fence and the approximate point Mr Trump had reached on the course is mostly open water and grass – with the sightline potentially blocked by some trees bordering the lake.
Agent spotted rifle barrel poking out if fence
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent, who was patrolling the course ahead of Mr Trump, spotted a rifle barrel coming out of a perimeter fence.
“He immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off,” he said.
Mr Bradshaw said Mr Trump was about 300 to 500 yards (275 to 460m) from the suspect, named as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, at the time.
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Trump ‘apparent assassination bid’ timeline
Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County’s state attorney, told MSNBC the suspect was “lying in wait” for Mr Trump.
“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents”, Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, has told a news conference.
Ryan Routh pictured as he is arrested. Pic: Martin County Sheriff’s Office
Routh fled in a black Nissan SUV and was arrested after his vehicle was stopped by local police, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reported, citing three senior law enforcement officials.
He was stopped by police driving northbound on the I-95 highway, about 46 miles and a 43-minute drive from the golf course.
The southern perimeter fence runs along Summit Boulevard, where a police cordon was put up and officers were seen searching the bushes bordering the golf course.
Officers later searched the area where the man, believed to be Routh, was spotted and found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two rucksacks and a GoPro.
Suspect Ryan Routh. Pic: Ryan Routh/Facebook
Earlier, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder described how his officers followed the suspect’s vehicle for a while before making a “felony stop”.
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Footage of Trump’s assassination suspect
Pictures of the gun and rucksacks were displayed at the news conference
He said: “Our road units picked the vehicle up and we waited a while. We didn’t stop him right away. We didn’t want a high-speed chase.
“So we were able to wait until we had adequate units, surrounded the vehicle, and forced it to a stop.”
He added they managed to take the suspect into custody peacefully.
Routh has since appeared in a federal courtroom in West Bank Palm Beach, Florida.
Read more:
What we know about what happened so far
Urgent question over how ‘assassination attempt’ may affect election – analysis
Police vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club. Pic: AP
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Trump says, ‘he will never surrender’
Afterwards, a statement from Mr Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.
“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you.”
Mr Trump’s motorcade heading to Mar-a-Lago after the incident
Mr Trump has since returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
A White House statement said after the incident: “The president and vice president have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former president Trump was golfing.
“They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
Ryan Routh pictured in 2022 during a rally for support of Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv.
Pic: Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine Suspilne/Reuters
What do we know about the suspect?
Routh is reported to have travelled to Ukraine in an attempt to help the country in its fight against Russia.
A video has emerged of an interview he gave to Newsweek in 2022 where he spoke about his efforts to recruit foreign volunteers for Ukraine’s ground forces.
It has also emerged Routh wrote a book about the conflict where he described how he “gave up and quit”, a decision he says makes him “the worst of humans”.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that public records show Routh faced criminal charges over two separate incidents in 2002 for possession of a weapon of mass destruction – which can refer to a machine gun.
He pleaded guilty to the first charge in April 2002, but no other details were publicly available, according to the newspaper.
The News & Record reported that later that year he was also charged after barricading himself in a United Roofing building in Greensboro for three hours, armed with a machine gun.
The incident began after he was pulled over for a traffic stop, but police eventually arrested him without incident.
In that case, he is said to have pleaded guilty to driving without a licence and registration, resisting a public officer and carrying a concealed firearm – while public records reportedly indicate the weapon of mass destruction charge was dropped.
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Sky’s Mark Stone reports from outside the golf course in Florida where a suspect was seen with a gun
According to records, Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, the Associated Press reported.
In relation to the incident at Mr Trump’s golf course on Sunday, Routh’s son has told CNN that he hopes “everything has been blown out of proportion” and that it would be unlike his father to “do anything crazy, much less violent”.
Oran Routh said: “Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest, hardworking man… He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light.”
It comes two months after Mr Trump sustained an ear injury during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
The gunman, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service at the scene.
The attempt on Mr Trump’s life 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.
US
Pam Bondi: Key proponent of Trump’s false 2020 election claims set to head justice department after Gaetz withdrawal
Donald Trump has pledged for years to surround himself with ultra-loyalists who can mould his government to his vision without barriers.
That’s precisely why he picked Matt Gaetz. Now he’s out, Pam Bondi is in and she’s equally loyal.
Gaetz was uniquely unpopular on Capitol Hill but ultra-MAGA and ultra-loyal to the president-elect.
He was chosen by the president-elect to do his bidding inside the Justice Department as attorney general.
Critics called his pick “a red alert moment for democracy” and the man a “gonzo agent of chaos” – language that would surely only affirm Trump’s decision in his own proudly disruptive mind.
Matt Gaetz has withdrawn despite Trump putting him forward for attorney general. Pic: AP
If it wasn’t for the fact that the president-elect is himself a convicted felon, and a man found liable in a civil court of his own sexual offences, the prospect of Gaetz, with all his baggage, making it through the nomination process would have seemed remote.
But Donald Trump’s return to the White House suggested anything is possible.
And so, beyond his loyalty, Gaetz was Trump’s test for his foot soldiers on Capitol Hill. How loyal were they? Would they wave through anyone he appointed?
It turns out that Gaetz, and the storm around his private life, was too much for a proportion of them.
At least five Senate Republicans were flatly against Matt Gaetz’s confirmation. We understand that they communicated to other senators and those close to Trump that they were unlikely to be swayed.
They included the Republican old guard like Senator Mitch McConnell.
Beyond the hard “no” senators, there were between 20 and 30 other Republicans who were very uncomfortable about having to vote for Gaetz on the Senate floor.
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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws
The key question is whether Gaetz was Trump’s intentional wild card crazy choice that he knew, deep down, would probably never fly.
Was Gaetz the candidate he had accepted would be vetoed by senators – who would then feel compelled to wave the rest of his nominees through?
Will Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual impropriety concern them as they consider the suitability of the former Fox News host and army major to run the Department of Defence?
What about Tulsi Gabbard, the candidate Russian state TV calls ‘our girl’, and the appropriateness of her running America’s intelligence agencies?
These are all appointments that the politicians on Capitol Hill must consider and confirm in the weeks ahead.
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We don’t yet know who Trump will choose to direct the FBI.
There are some names being floated which will make the establishment of Washington shudder but then that’s precisely why Trump was elected. He is the disrupter. He said so at every rally, on repeat.
He was quick to pivot to another name to replace Gaetz.
Bondi is the former attorney general of Florida. Professionally she is in a different league to Gaetz. She’s been a tough prosecutor, with a no-nonsense reputation.
She is also among the most loyal of loyalists. Her attachment to Trump stretches way back.
Pam Bondi speaks during a Trump rally in November 2024. Pic: Reuters
I first came across her in Philadelphia in November 2020 when she was among Trump surrogates claiming the election back then had been stolen from them by Joe Biden and the Democrats.
She was a key proponent of the false claims the election had been rigged and Trump was the rightful winner.
The court cases concluding that was all nonsense didn’t seem to convince her.
Now she is poised to head up the Department of Justice as the country’s top law enforcement official.
US
Donald Trump on day one: Pace of change ‘like nothing you’ve seen in history’, warns campaign official
Within hours of taking office, president-elect Donald Trump plans to begin rolling out policies including large-scale deportations, according to his transition team.
Sky News partner network NBC News has spoken with more than half a dozen people familiar with the executive orders that his team plans to enact.
One campaign official said changes are expected at a pace that is “like nothing you’ve seen in history”, to signal a dramatic break from President Joe Biden’s administration.
Mr Trump is preparing on day one to overturn specific policies put in place by Mr Biden. Among the measures, reported by sources close to the transition team, are:
• The speedy and large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants
• Ending travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care
• Restricting transgender service members’ access to gender-affirming care
But much of the first day is likely to focus on stopping illegal immigration – the centrepiece of Trump’s candidacy. He is expected to sign up to five executive orders aimed at dealing with that issue alone after he is sworn in on 20 January.
“There will without question be a lot of movement quickly, likely day one, on the immigration front,” a top Trump ally said.
“There will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow.”
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Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.
But Mr Trump’s campaign pledges also could be difficult to implement.
Deporting people on the scale he wants will be a logistical challenge that could take years. Questions also remain about promised tax cuts.
Meanwhile, his pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in just 24 hours would be near impossible.
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Even so, advisers based at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort or at nearby offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, are reportedly strategising about ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Following his decisive victory on 5 November, the president-elect has moved swiftly to build a cabinet and senior White House team.
As of Thursday, he had selected more than 30 people for senior positions in his administration, compared with just three at a similar point in his 2016 transition.
Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser in Mr Trump’s campaign, told NBC News: “The thing to realise is Trump is no dummy.
“He knows he’s got two to three years at most to get anything done. And then he becomes a lame duck and we start talking about [the presidential election in] 2028.”
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