One Year Later, Trump Reflects on Assassination Attempt as Key Senator Slams the Secret Service for a ‘Cascade of Errors’

Reflecting on the first anniversary of his attempted assassination, President Trump said Sunday evening that he does not often think back to that fateful day when a shooter fired eight rounds, killing a spectator and grazing Mr. Trump’s ear at a campaign rally that is being described by the head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee as a massive failure by federal security agencies. “I don’t like to think about it much. It’s a little bit of a dangerous profession being president. I think you’re better off not thinking about it,” the president told reporters on Sunday.Mr. Trump said that while he doesn’t like to dwell on the attack, he does believe God was protecting him.“God was protecting me maybe because God wanted to see our country do better or do really well and make America great again,” he said after returning to Washington following a short break in New York to watch the FIFA World Cup soccer final. Mr. Trump said the events that unfolded in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, were an “unforgettable” and defining moment of his candidacy. On that day, Mr. Trump was speaking before a large crowd of supporters in an open-air rally when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was perched on the roof of a nearby building, started firing rounds from an assault rifle. Mr. Trump narrowly missed being struck in the head as he turned to point to a chart that was being displayed to the crowd on big screens.The shot grazed the president’s ear before Secret Service agents pulled him to the ground. Other bullets struck two people in the crowd and killed local firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was sitting on stage not far from the president.“Well, it was unforgettable. I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I got whacked,” the president said Saturday night in a wide-ranging interview with daughter-in-law Lara Trump on the eve of the anniversary. “People were screaming, and I got down quickly, fortunately.”The president praised the Secret Service sniper for doing a “fantastic job” taking out the shooter.“Our sniper, within less than five seconds, was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation,” Mr. Trump said. “He did a fantastic job, and just, he went about his business. Less than just about four seconds, and that’s when it all stopped, and he got him perfectly from a very long distance.”The president’s assessment was more generous than one by Kentucky Senator Paul, who described the Secret Service’s failings as a “cascade of errors” typical of an agency whose tendency toward “cultural cover-up” could end in another presidential candidate being less fortunate than Mr. Trump.Mr. Paul said the follow-up investigation revealed several mistakes by federal agents, including ignoring warnings about a suspicious person at the rally.“Many times he was spotted by police with suspicion. That should have been enough to take the president off the stage. Even with him on the roof, there was about a three-minute period we could have been taking the stage, and yet no one was fired,” Mr. Paul said on Face the Nation Sunday. “Some of these people could be in charge of security for another presidential candidate … that’s not right.”Last week, a half-dozen Secret Service agents were suspended as a result of failings in the aftermath of the incident. The agents had been placed on restricted duty or given posts that had less operational responsibility upon their return.Mr. Paul said the fact that they were only disciplined this week showed “this was a cover your a– sort of moment. … They weren’t going to discipline anybody until I subpoenaed and asked them what they had done. But in the end, no one was fired.”The Homeland Security Committee chairman added that he does not think the Secret Service is withholding information about the shooter’s motive. “I don’t think there’s a secret answer that they’re not revealing to us. I think they just don’t know,” Mr. Paul said.Speaking of the subsequent investigation, the president acknowledged that mistakes were made but said he was satisfied with the findings.“They briefed me numerous times, the FBI, the Secret Service, sort of everybody, DOJ … I’m satisfied with it,” he said. “They should [have] had somebody in the building. That was a mistake. They should have had communications with the local police. They weren’t tied in, and they should have been tied in.”

One Year Later, Trump Reflects on Assassination Attempt as Key Senator Slams the Secret Service for a ‘Cascade of Errors’

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