Ex-Secret Service agent explains why 'threat profile' is especially high with Trump
On Sunday, September 15, former President Donald Trump survived a second assassination attempt — this time, on a golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have been blaming Democrats. But many of Trump's critics have responded that his rhetoric is consistently inflammatory, and President Joe Biden was quite vehement in condemning the Sunday assassination attempt.
National security/law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow, during a September 17 appearance on CNN, discussed the challenges that the U.S. Secret Service faces during a time of great political tensions in the United States — especially when it comes to protecting Trump.
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The 2024 GOP presidential nominee is among the United States' five living ex-presidents. The others are Republican George W. Bush and Democrats Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
According to Wackrow — a former Secret Service agent — the "threat profile" with Trump is higher than it is for other ex-presidents.
"We are living in a very dynamic and almost unpredictable threat environment that is changing very quickly for the Secret Service," Wackrow told CNN's Kasie Hunt. "Just take former President Donald Trump, for instance; you know, he does not fit the typical model of a former president such as Obama, Clinton, or Bush, where their threat proud profile diminishes the further they get away from the office of the presidency. Former President Trump, on the other hand, his threat profile almost seemingly has increased since he has left office."
Wackrow continued, "Why? Because he's continuously in the public eye. He is running for office again, and he has this lingering threat from Iran that is trying to a seek retaliation for actions that he took while he was in office. All of that threat profile of the former president needs to be addressed in how the Secret Service actually applies its protective methodologies in protective model to the former president. So, the director of the Secret Service is right in saying: Hey, there needs to be a recalibration here. But that recalibration has to be done very quickly because we see how dynamic this threat environment actually is, and when these threats can materialize."
Hunt noted that prominent Democrats have been calling for additional funding for the Secret Service.
Wackrow responded, "More funding will allow for more hiring of officers and agents who execute the mission every single day. The technology is key right now. We're seeing our adversaries utilizing advanced technology to try to launch attacks; the Secret Service needs to develop the countermeasures to thwart those types of attacks, such as drones, for instance."
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