Agents: We Were Never Informed of Trump Threat


N


o one told the Secret Service advance


team guarding the then- candidate there was a credible intelligence threat against Donald J. Trump, possibly at “a large outdoor rally” — although the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue was never mentioned. The next day, when


the mainstream media reported on the threat, Trump’s Secret Service protectors were stunned. This was reflected by a note written by the senior special agent in charge of advance security planning. With acronyms


deciphered, the agent’s note reads, “Why am I hearing that there were threats to the site on TV. How can the SAIC [special agent in charge] of our FO [field ofice] not know about any threats and why did they feel that only one part of SOD [Special Operations Division, the Secret Service sniper and countersniper team] was suficient to cover it instead of the entire package.” When Congress asked that agent about the note, she ticked off a list of additional security measures that could have been brought to bear, had news of the threat been shared. Similarly, the leader


of the Secret Service countersniper team protecting Trump testified that he was never told about a specific threat. — D.P.


56 NEWSMAX | JULY 2025


Continued from page 53


the building’s roof, supine in a firing position, with the seconds counting down to when Trump would begin to speak.


SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT Once behind the microphone, Trump begins to blast the Biden administration’s lax border poli- cies. Then, on a whim, he makes a decision that saved his life. He asks an aide to display on


a giant monitor at the side of the stage a chart he usually unveils much later in his speeches. Trump asks the cheering


crowd, “You don’t mind if I go off teleprompter, do you?” “Nooooooo!” they respond. Titled “Southwest Border En-


counters,” the chart depicts the mammoth, record increase in il- legal entries under then-President Joe Biden. Bringing it up so early is vintage Trump, spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment. Back at the AGR building, just seconds before Crooks opens fire,


a rallygoer shouts out “Officer!” in a final, doomed attempt to alert po- lice to the threat on the roof. One local Butler cop does re-


spond, asking a fellow deputy to give him a boost up onto the ledge of the AGR building’s roof. But as soon as he raises his head above the roof line, Crooks turns to en- gage him. Unable to both hold onto the


roof and draw his service weapon, the officer instinctively releases his grip and falls to the ground, in- juring his ankle. Trump, meanwhile, is pointing to the chart. “And you know,” he says, “that’s


a little bit old, that chart is a couple of months old.” Trump momentarily squares


up with the microphone to address the crowd. “If you want to really see something that’s sad,” he says, “take a look at what happened . . .” At that precise instant, two


things occur simultaneously: Trump twitches his head back to


Continued on page 59


GUNFIRE Donald Trump’s shocked supporters are seen covered in blood and sheltering under bleachers behind the podium moments after eight gunshots rang out.


ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES


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