Eric Trump criticized the Secret Service for not doing enough to protect Donald Trump and raised concerns about his father.
Donald Trump’s second son appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program to question the agency’s actions following the second assassination attempt on his father.
“One bullet, the history of this country changes forever,” he said. “How many more predicaments do we have to go through? When can we finally get our act together?”
He also called for more resources for the Secret Service so that there would be no third attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.
“They need to be given the resources to keep our political leaders safe. We need to do better. We can’t have a third incident. There won’t be a third incident. We can’t have this conversation again. We’ve had too many.”
Republicans have expressed outrage over how close Donald Trump came to death. Don Jr. and Eric have also led the charge in defending their father, calling for greater protection for him.
“I expect him to be protected, I expect him to be safe,” Eric Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hanity about the death of his father Donald Trump.
In his interview with Fox, Eric Trump praised the Secret Service agents who were on the scene Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, who spotted the barrel of the gun sticking out of a fence and quickly pulled the former president to safety.
“Those officers on the ground, they’re remarkable. They’re remarkable. And thank God they were there,” he said.
However, he said two assassination attempts in three months were unacceptable, citing the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Sunday’s incident.
“There’s going to be a glitch at some point. There has to be. I mean, these are two assault rifles within 300 yards of the president, the first one is 130 yards from the president in a five-week period. And there’s only so many chances in the world that you get. There’s only so many lives that you get.”
And he revealed his real fear of Donald Trump: ‘Let me be clear: They’re trying to kill the man. They’re trying to kill my father.’
Eric Trump, like others, asked why the fence around Trump’s golf course was not protected and how the suspect was able to camp just outside the fence for nearly 12 hours without being caught.
“How is that possible?” he asked.
He pointed out how close his father was to death: ‘A 300-yard shot is a layup shooter with the scope rifle. That’s a shot my six-year-old son can make every time. These are layup shots.’
“I expect him to be protected, I expect him to be safe,” he said of Donald Trump.
He also blamed Democratic rhetoric for making his father a target. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have condemned political violence. But Donald Trump has also blamed Democrats for inciting violence against him.
Eric noted that only his father was the target of assassination attempts.
“The bullets only go one way,” he noted. “It’s interesting how that works. That guy over there takes every bullet literally and figuratively.”
He called on Democrats to “take it easy.”
Ryan Routh was arrested by Palm Beach police on Sunday
New details emerged Monday about how Trump stalker Ryan Routh may have lurked for more than 11 hours before the former president at Trump’s Florida golf course.
And the high-powered rifle Routh was carrying may have been purchased overseas.
The details emerged in a document filed Monday in which Routh, 58, was charged with weapons offenses in connection with the incident. Sunday’s incident is the second such attempt on Trump’s life in the past three months.
Officials found that the loaded 7.62×39 SKS rifle had a serial number that was “illegible and not readable to the naked eye.”
The agent who wrote the complaint said such guns are not manufactured in Florida and that the gun was likely “out of state or in commerce.”
Meanwhile, cellphone location data obtained by the FBI indicates Routh was “near tree line” at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach from just before 2 a.m. Sunday until approximately 1:30 p.m.
That was about when a Secret Service agent checking the course for Trump spotted a gun barrel sticking out of a nearby fence and fired at Routh. Trump was quickly evacuated.
The details suggest a degree of forward planning by Routh. Moreover, the fact that he spent about 12 hours on the golf course without being discovered has raised questions about the Secret Service’s protective procedures.
Officials said Routh was on the public side of the Trump golf course fence when the officer saw the barrel of the gun.
Police are still investigating all details, including where the suspect got the AK-style rifle, what his movements were before the incident and whether anyone else was involved.
It is unclear where Routh would have parked and waited for the former president, who regularly plays golf at his West Palm Beach club when he is at his nearby Mar-a-Lago home.
Local police have tightened security around the golf club, including closing the road to all but local traffic.
When the agent spotted the gun on Sunday, Trump was on the fifth hole of his Palm Beach golf club. The agent was on the sixth hole, doing a visual sweep for the former president, when he spotted the barrel of the gun.
Routh was less than 500 yards from Trump when he was captured.
Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe said Monday that Routh was unable to fire a single shot and that Trump was never in his “field of vision.”
“As former President Trump drove down the fifth fairway, across the course and out of sight of the sixth green, the officer, who was visually scanning the area of the sixth green, saw the suspect armed with what he believed to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm,” he noted.
The Secret Service was criticized for failing to maintain sufficient distance around Trump at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate the former president.
But, Rowe noted, the agency had a security plan in place for Trump’s golf game, which he said was not planned.
“We have a security plan in place and that plan has worked,” he said at a news conference on Monday.
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. speaks during a press conference
Donald Trump on his golf course in West Palm Beach
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In the area near the tree line where Routh fled, officers found a digital camera, two bags, a loaded 7.62×39 SKS rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food.
On Sunday, after the Secret Service fired shots and Routh fled, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pulled over a vehicle and apprehended Routh at 2:14 p.m. Officers said the license plate of the Nissan he was in was registered to a white 2012 Ford truck that had been reported stolen.
Ryan was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.
Researchers are trying to recover the serial number so they can trace its origin.
He did not appear to fire the weapon, police noted. Apparently, the only shots fired were from the Secret Service. Even if Routh did not fire the weapon, he could still be charged with attempted murder.
“We are investigating this case as a suspected attempted assassination of former President Trump,” FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri of the Miami office said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The Secret Service later discovered a rifle, a backpack and a GoPro video camera attached to the fence near where Routh was seen.
Routh appeared for a brief hearing Monday morning in federal court in West Palm Beach, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit.
U.S. District Judge Ryon McCabe has ordered Routh held without bail until his pretrial detention hearing on September 23.
Police personnel investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club
Police photos show explosions hanging from a fence above a gun leaning against it
Ryan Routh in federal court on Monday
Routh has a lengthy criminal record in North Carolina, including a conviction for possession of a weapon of mass destruction and multiple charges of possession of stolen property.
He also has ties to Hawaii, where he worked in construction and led a group of people who built housing for the homeless.
He was deeply involved in efforts to recruit soldiers to fight against Russia in Ukraine. He traveled to Ukraine in 2022 and later wrote a book, ‘Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.’
AP video footage shows Routh holding a small demonstration on Independence Square in Kiev in April 2022, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country.
In the self-published book, available on Amazon, Routh strongly criticized Trump and even encouraged Iran to assassinate him.
“You are free to kill Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran.
Routh, who was active on social media, said he voted for Trump in 2016, but criticized him in a June 2020 post.
“I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate,” he wrote. “I will be happy if you [sic] away.’
He also did not appear to be a fan of President Joe Biden.
“Sleepy Joe stands for nothing, no plans, no ideas,” he wrote in a March 5, 2020, X-post.