Former President Donald Trump has not played golf since an apparent assassination attempt near one of his courses on Sept. 15, and he won’t until after the election, according to a person close to the campaign and another person familiar with the situation.
A third person familiar with the discussions said Trump was told federal agents would not be able to secure him if he played. Concerns were raised in two conversations with Trump after the September incident: one with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and another with officials in the office of the director of national intelligence.
Trump was thinking about the issue of security.
In a meeting last month, Trump asked Rowe if it was safe for him to play golf after the foiled assassination attempt, and was told some of his courses would need significant extra security given their proximity to public roads. The New York Times He reported last month, citing information from three people familiar with their conversation.
Not being able to play golf is a significant change in Trump’s schedule and lifestyle. He has 18 golf properties Around the world, including courses in Oman and Dubai, and sport has been a fixture in his life throughout his three election campaigns and presidency. As president, he spent a lot of time. 260 days at its various golf properties. It’s unclear if he ever played golf — unlike previous administrations, his White House would not usually say whether he played golf or who he played golf with.
If Trump goes without golf on Election Day, it will be the longest he has gone since the pandemic that kept him out. out of links for more than two months.
Trump has generally played golf at least once a week since leaving the White House, but his penchant for the greens put him in jeopardy during his final outing on Sept. 15 at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
According to the Justice Department, a Secret Service agent spotted a “partially obscured human face” “in the brush along the fence line near the sixth hole” waiting for Trump to reach the hole. The man who determines who the authorities are later Ryan Rouththe agent ran after shooting him and he was arrested a short time later.
Rout was charged of attempted assassination of a leading presidential candidate and faces life in prison if convicted. He pleaded not guilty.
The West Palm Beach incident was the second assassination attempt on Trump. In July hit his ear When Thomas Crooks shot him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Since those events, there has been a Secret Service strengthened its security to an unprecedented degree for both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Bulletproof glass and accessories are now widely available at campaign events.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that as a matter of policy, he would not comment on “conversations between the acting director and the defense attorney” and deferred questions to the Trump campaign.
“Following the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump, the US Secret Service has made sweeping changes and improvements to our communications capabilities, resourcing and protective operations,” he added in a statement to NBC News. “Today, the former president receives enhanced protection and we take very seriously our responsibility to ensure his safety and security.”
The Trump campaign did not comment for this article.
Trump said that playing golf is important to him and that it is his main sport.
“I know many who work endlessly, in some cases to the point of exhaustion, in business and politics. It’s their number one passion in life, but no one complains. “My ‘practice’ is playing a quick round of golf, almost never during the week.” tweeted When he becomes president in 2020. “I play VERY fast, I do a lot of work on the golf course, and I also practice a little. Not bad!”
Trump’s frequent visits to golf courses during his presidency have made headlines since he was a candidate is often criticized Because President Barack Obama plays golf.
“Because I’ll be working for you, I won’t have time to play golf. Trust me,” Trump told a crowd in Virginia in August 2016.
He said in 2020 that his time on the course was different than his predecessor because Obama played “longer rounds.”