Why Trump’s frequent golfing has 'worried' Secret Service agents for years
Former President Donald Trump was playing golf when, on Sunday, September 15, he survived a second assignation attempt. The suspect, 58-year-old North Carolina resident Ryan Wesley Routh, is facing federal gun charges.
Routh, according to reports, was allegedly pointing a high-powered rifle through a fence when a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted him. The North Carolina man fled the scene but was captured by police.
In an article published by Politico on September 16, reporters Erica Orden, Jonathan Lemire and Betsy Woodruff Swan detail the challenges that Trump's fondness for golf poses to U.S. Secret Service agents who are trying to protect him.
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"Nearly every president in recent history has played golf," the journalists explain, "but the frequency and predictability of Trump's outings have raised worries for years. Journalists and other bystanders have enjoyed unobstructed views of the former president from locations outside of the perimeter of his private country clubs — and unsecured by the Secret Service."
Orden, Lemire and Swan note that although Trump "was not harmed" on September 15, his "favorite pastime presents a serious challenge for the people protecting him."
Former Secret Service agent Paul Eckloff told Politico, "Outdoor events of that size and duration, three-to-five hours, are incredibly difficult and stressful. You can't surround a person who's golfing with steel or glass."
According to 21-year Secret Service veteran Mike Olson — who spent four years helping protect then-Vice President Dick Cheney during the 2000s — "The problem is, over the last eight years, specifically with Trump, is that he golfs a lot. He golfs all the time, so it doesn't take a neurosurgeon to figure out that if he's down at Mar-a-Lago, and it’s nice weather, he’s probably going to a golf course."
During an MSNBC appearance on September 16, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg pointed out that for Secret Service agents, a golf course is a "much harder property to lock down than Mar-a-Lago."
Aronberg observed, "You can block and shut down the roads. You can't really do that as easily around the golf course, which is a major area of West Palm Beach.”
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Read Politico's full report at this link.
