Joe Biden says Secret Service needs more help after Trump appears to be assassination attempt target | US News

US President Joe Biden has said the Secret Service needs more support after Donald Trump was apparently the target of an assassination attempt on Sunday.

Mr Biden said he was grateful that Mr Trump was “OK,” but added that he did not yet have a full account of what happened.

He added: “One thing I want to make clear is that the service needs more help, and I think Congress should address its needs.”

When asked what additional help the service needs, Biden said they might need to think about whether the service “needs more staff or not.”

He made the remarks after the FBI said an “apparent assassination attempt” on Mr Trump was foiled on Sunday, with one man arrested and an assault rifle seized.

Mr Trump was playing a round at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when gunshots were heard.

It is not yet known whether the suspect fired first, whether he fired a shot at all, or whether only the secret service fired.

Breaking news: Suspect arrested after ‘running out of the bushes’

The former US President was on the fifth hole when he was pulled to the ground by security forces who feared an attempt on his life.

The fifth hole in the northeast corner of the golf course is just over 300 meters (328 yards) from the southern boundary fence.

The route is lined with thick foliage, but satellite images show that the area between the fence and the approximate point Mr Trump reached on the route is mostly open water and grass – with the line of sight possibly blocked by some trees bordering the lake.

Agent discovered gun barrel sticking out of fence

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent patrolling the route ahead of Mr Trump spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a perimeter fence.

“He immediately attacked the person, who then fled,” he said.

Mr Bradshaw said Mr Trump was about 300 to 500 feet away from the suspect, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, at the time.

Palm Beach County District Attorney Dave Aronberg told MSNBC that the suspect was “lying in wait” for Mr Trump.

“We are not sure at this time whether the individual was capable of shooting at our agents,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, said at a press conference.

Routh fled in a black Nissan SUV and was arrested after his vehicle was stopped by local police, reported NBC News, Sky News’ US affiliate, citing three senior police officials.

He was stopped by police while driving north on I-95, 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 set up and officers were seen searching the bushes bordering the golf course.

Officers then searched the area where the man believed to be Routh was spotted and found an AK-47 rifle with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro.

Previously, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder described how his officers followed the suspect’s vehicle for a period of time before stopping him for a “crime.”

He said: “Our road police picked up the vehicle and we waited for a while. We did not stop him immediately. We did not want a high-speed chase.”

“This meant we could wait until we had enough emergency personnel, surround the vehicle and force it to stop.”

He added that they managed to arrest the suspect peacefully.

Routh has since appeared in federal court in West Bank Palm Beach, Florida.

Read more:
What we know about the events so far
Urgent question: How could an “assassination” affect the elections? Analysis

Trump then declared: “There have been gunshots near me, but before the rumor mill gets out of control, I want you to hear this: I AM SAFE AND I AM FINE!”

“Nothing will stop me. I will NEVER GIVE UP! I will always love you for supporting me.

“Unity. Peace. Make America great again. May God bless you.”

Mr Trump has now returned to his resort in Mar-a-Lago.

A White House statement after the incident said: “The President and Vice President have been briefed on the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was playing golf.”

“They are relieved to know he is safe. Their team will keep them regularly updated.”

What do we know about the suspect?

Routh reportedly traveled to Ukraine to help the country fight against Russia.

A video has surfaced of an interview he gave to Newsweek in 2022 in which he discussed his efforts to recruit foreign volunteers for the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

It has also been revealed that Routh wrote a book about the conflict, in which he describes how he “gave up and quit,” a decision that he believes makes him “the worst of all people.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that public records show that Routh was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction – which could include a machine gun – in two separate incidents in 2002.

He pleaded guilty to the first charge in April 2002, but further details were not publicly available, the newspaper said.

As The News & Record reported, he was also charged later that year after barricading himself in a United Roofing building in Greensboro for three hours while armed with a machine gun.

The incident began after he was stopped during a traffic stop, but police were eventually able to arrest him without incident.

In that case, he reportedly pleaded guilty to driving without a license and registration, resisting an officer and carrying a concealed firearm – while public records show the charge of possession of weapons of mass destruction was dropped.

Records show Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, the Associated Press reported.

Referring to Sunday’s incident at Trump’s golf course, Routh’s son told CNN he hoped “everything had been taken out of context” and that it would be uncharacteristic of his father to “do anything crazy, let alone violent.”

Oran Routh said: “Ryan is my father and I have nothing to say about that other than a character profile of him as a loving and caring father and an honest, hard-working man… He is 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 made a Assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.

The shooter, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crookswas shot at the scene by the secret service.

The attack on Trump led to Resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatlewho admitted to Congress that her agency had experienced the “most significant operational failure” in decades.