The report, prepared by the US Government Audit Office (GAO) at the request of Senate Judicial Committee ChairmanChu Grassley, released on July 12, pointed out that the US Secret Service (USSS) did not take necessary security measures to prevent a plot to assassinate Mr. Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
The report said senior USSS officials had received information about a potential threat to Trump ahead of the campaign. However, due to the dissemination and lack of system, the local security forces and agents in charge of protecting the event were completely not warned.
Change internal policies to proactively share threatening information will help security forces have enough necessary data to ensure effective safety, the report recommended.
The report also pointed out many shortcomings in planning, combat training, resource coordination as well as limiting mobile communication at the scene, directly affecting the force's ability to react.
Senator Grassley, who called for an investigation, called it a result of "a chain of wrong decisions and a cumbersome administration." He also criticized the Biden administration for rejecting Trump's request to increase security during the election period.
The July 13 defeat was the peak of many years of poor management, Mr. Grassley emphasized. The American people should feel grateful that Mr. Trump survived and reclaimed the White House to restore the countrys alertness.
In the failed assassination attempt, a gunman detonated 8 shots, one of which went past Mr. Trump's ear. Hung shot and killed one occupant - Corey Comperatore - and injured two others before being killed on the spot by security guards.
The incident shocked US politics and was considered the most serious assassination attempt on a presidential candidate in decades.
Mr. Grassley also announced a $1.17 billion budget for the USSS in the newly passed "big and beautiful" bill, in the hope of comprehensively reforming the presidential protection force.
As Chairman of the Judicial Committee, I will work closely with the USSS to fix what is broken, he said.
Meanwhile, the US Secret Service and the White House have not made an official comment on the report.
Butler's failed assassination has raised serious questions about the ability to protect senior leaders amid the increasingly complex US domestic security landscape. A year later, the negative feedback has not yet subsided, and fundamental changes are being needed more than ever.
