Biden: The Secret Service needs "more help" after the assassination of Trump

2024-09-16 18:57:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Biden: The Secret Service needs "more help" after the assassination of

The President of the United States, Joe Biden. Source: AFP

United States President Joe Biden said Monday that the Secret Service needs "more," a day after agents foiled another assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Trump escaped unharmed after an "assassination attempt" at his Florida golf club on September 15, the FBI said.

The incident, which occurred just nine weeks after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, has raised questions about the Republican presidential nominee's safety just 50 days before the highly polarized US presidential election.

The FBI and the state of Florida are investigating how a 58-year-old suspect was able to get within a few hundred feet of Trump with a rifle and binoculars.

The FBI said it is conducting an investigation into "what appears to be an attempt to assassinate former President Trump" and the possible vote.

President Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday: "One thing I want to make clear, the [Secret] Service needs more help, and I think Congress needs to respond to their needs," Biden said.

"Thank God the president is fine. I think we need more personnel," he added.

After the incident, Trump praised the Secret Service and the police, calling them "brave and dedicated patriots" for ensuring his safety.

Neither the FBI nor the police have released the name of the suspect, but US media such as CNN, Fox News, CBS News and the New York Times have identified him as Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old resident of Hawaii.

Routh is a construction worker with a long history of trouble with police, according to public records. He moved to Hawaii several years ago from North Carolina and has expressed support for Democrats and for Ukraine on his social media accounts, including by asking to raise money for Ukraine's defense.

Meanwhile, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that he feels happy that Trump was not harmed and that he is now safe.

"It is a very good thing that the suspect of attempted murder was arrested quickly," Zelensky said in X.

In Moscow, the Kremlin said the suspect's ties to Ukraine showed Washington was "playing with fire" with its policy of support for Kiev, which is struggling to repel Russian occupation forces.

US media reported that Routh has frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had websites where he asked to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kiev to join the fight against Moscow's full-scale occupation of Ukraine. started in February 2022./ REL