Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Defense Department said it will provide “additional military support capabilities” to the Secret Service to guard the major presidential and vice presidential candidates through the November election in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, for “increased support” at “various locations across the United States,” Sabrina Singh, a Defense Department spokeswoman, told reporters Thursday. Such support would be provided by National Guard units.
Although Singh didn’t elaborate on why the help being provided through U.S. Northern Command was needed, the Secret Service has been under scrutiny for security failures that allowed the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July. Trump was slightly injured and a spectator in the crowd was killed before snipers shot and killed the attacker.
Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said in a statement that since the assassination attempt the service “has bolstered our protective operations in order to ensure the highest levels of safety and security. As part of this effort, the Department of Defense is providing the U.S. Secret Service with additional assistance including logistics, transportation, and communications, through the 2024 campaign season.”
Northern Command said in a statement that the Defense Department is “providing enhanced support for the protection of the 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential campaign candidates.” It compared that to past support for “National Special Security Events,” such as political conventions, but “with additional capabilities provided to further bolster candidate security.”
Singh said the added military support is likely to continue for the president-elect and vice president-elect through their inauguration in January.
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