I’ve guarded presidents for 20 years. Trump faces two drastic Secret Service adjustments after WHCD nightmare

Donald Trump‘s security is expected to see at least two major changes in the wake of the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting, according to former Secret Service agents.

Measures were increased after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024, and again a few months later when an armed man was spotted in the bushes at West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.

‘We’ve seen upping since Butler, we’ve seen upping since the golf course, and I think you’re going to see upping now because we need to,’ Bobby McDonald, a retired 20-year Secret Service agent told the Daily Mail.

‘More people and more things isn’t always the only answer, but I think you’re going to see a huge increase in the type of tools and assets and personnel that are going to be used at various events.’

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is meeting with Secret Service leaders in the coming days to review security protocols.

One of the key measures that may emerge is less joint events involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and members of the Cabinet.

McDonald, an expert in protective intelligence and event planning, said: ‘You don’t normally see that amount of those type of people in one room at an event other than the Inauguration or the State of the Union.

‘This President seems to have many more Cabinet people around him, more frequently, I think, than other presidents. There’s always that level of succession that has to be looked at, continuity of operation, and that’s all built in to every security plan.

‘I think that there’s at least going to be discussions about that. I think that there could have been catastrophic consequences, especially had another element of a weapon been used, be it a suicide bomb type thing, the damage that could have been inflicted there could have been very large and taken out a good portion of our leaders.’

A second issue almost certain to be looked at is the use of hotel venues.

‘The Secret Service, and I think this is probably going to change shortly, by and large doesn’t like to shut down entire venues,’ said McDonald.

‘It costs business money when we take away business from them, or if we were to buy out the whole hotel, or something like that for a dinner, it’s not feasible to do that.

‘So, what I think you’re going to see now, based not only on the incident, but the comments of this individual (the gunman) in his letter. He notes that the lack of security when he checked in was very palpable.

‘I think the Secret Service now is going to have to reset itself a little bit, like it did after Butler two years ago, to start to expand its perimeters, to start to expand its need for more personnel at events, which all now is going to tie back to the fact that they’re not being funded right now.

‘And I’m not saying that had anything to do with the other night, but it’s all part and parcel of the process.’

Accused gunman Cole Allen was a guest at the Washington Hilton which helped him get close to the ballroom where the dinner was being held.

How to stop potential assassins doing that again will be part of the review.

‘I think that’s going to be probably issue number one, or number two, that’s going to be looked at, I’m sure they’re talking about that today,’ said McDonald. ‘Whether we end up sweeping all those rooms, or whether we’re doing name checks on people.’

‘He didn’t have a criminal record so I’m not sure that even a name check would have brought any attention to him. But sweeping of rooms, having guests sign off to bringing a dog or something into their room to sweep it.’

He said there would be privacy issues but the Secret Service would have to ‘look at more and more of the people that are in and around these venues, or staying at the venues.’

He added: ‘While I wouldn’t call the event a success, because we had shots fired, there were a lot of positive actions by the agents in and around the dais, in and around the movement of the president and vice president.

‘A lot of muscle memory from their training kicked in. Watching them made me very proud to be a part of that agency.’

Wiles’ meeting with the Secret Service leadership will examine Saturday’s security response and measures to keep future events safe, a senior official said.

They are expected to ‘explore additional options’ needed as Trump is expected to attend events this summer for the nation’s 250th anniversary and the soccer World Cup.

Separately, an official said the Secret Service is already reevaluating its security footing.

The agency’s posture was already elevated due to the extraordinary number of threats facing Trump.

Agents on protective intelligence and threat assessment teams are also reexamining threats received against the president in recent months.

They are also on alert for any copycat violence, which can follow high-profile attacks.

Another security measure that may be seen more going forward is putting President Trump behind bullet proof glass even if he is indoors, according to Ronald Kessler, author of ‘In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.’

He said attendees will likely be more thoroughly screened going forward, leading to longer lines at presidential events that can already take hours.

‘Presidents don’t like to have too much protection,’ Kessler said. ‘I think, by their nature, they’re very outgoing, they want to meet people, they don’t want to be accused of being prisoners of the White House. And so, they’ll try to get around some of these improvements.’

Republican congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security Committee, echoed concerns about having Trump and Vance at the same events.

He said: ‘I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that.’