WASHINGTON — The Secret Service failed to detect a Glock handgun in a guest’s bag that agents manually searched at President Trump’s Virginia golf club while the commander in chief was on site late last month.
The member at Trump National Golf Club Washington DC, which is located in Sterling, Va., later informed the protective agency about the firearm and was described by a senior official to The Post as “cooperative” with investigators.
The Secret Service has since launched a review of the Aug. 31 security failure, first reported by RealClearPolitics, which comes just over 13 months after an assassination attempt against Trump during a Butler, Pa. campaign rally on July 13, 2024.
“The US Secret Service takes the safety and security of our sites very seriously and there are redundant security layers built into every one,” an agency spokesperson said.
“Video surveillance indicates the club member was never in close physical proximity to the President’s location at any point while at the golf club.”
The agent in charge of searching the guest’s bag has been placed on administrative leave amid the ongoing review.
The senior official said that handheld magnetometers were used instead of walkthrough devices when screening guests at the president’s golf resort, located about 25 miles northwest of the White House.
Following the security breach, Secret Service Director Sean Curran and Deputy Director Matt Quinn visited the club and received a detailed briefing, according to this person.
Trump has frequented the Virginia golf course since returning to the presidency earlier this year.
Despite the numerous failures by the Secret Service, Trump has publicly defended the protective agency.
“I have great confidence in these people. I know the people. And they’re very talented, very capable. But they had a bad day. And I think they’ll admit that. They had a rough day,” Trump told his daughter-in-law, Lara, a Fox News host, in an interview that aired July 12, one day before the anniversary of the Butler shooting
When asked about the August security breach, the White House referred The Post to the Secret Service’s comments.
In addition to the bullet that nicked his right ear in Butler, Trump also faced another assassination attempt on Sept. 15 of last year, when a Secret Service officer opened fire on suspect Ryan Wesley Routh as he hid in the bushes with a SKS-style rifle at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Trump was only a few hundred yards away when Routh was discovered, according to officials. Jury selection in Routh’s federal trial began earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the Secret Service faced renewed scrutiny after Trump showed up to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, an upscale DC restaurant about a block away from the White House.
On his first night dining in DC proper during his second term, Trump was forced to stare down lefty Code Pink demonstrators who shouted invective at him, such as “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!” while parading around Palestinian flags.
Conservatives raised concerns about how those demonstrators were able to get so close to the president, whose jaunt to the ritzy DC restaurant was intended to tout his crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
