Tag: secret service
Trump's White House Makeover Is Gaudy, Tasteless -- And Suits Him Well

Trump's White House Makeover Is Gaudy, Tasteless -- And Suits Him Well

On a sunny morning in May 1984, I reported for a job as first lady Nancy Reagan's speechwriter. I drove my Toyota Corolla up to the Ellipse, careful to display the special tag permitting me to park quite close to the East Wing, and ventured inside, past the line of visitors awaiting their guided tours and past the uniformed Secret Service (to whom I flashed another pass) into the offices of the first lady's chief of staff.

Americans who haven't visited the White House for a guided tour probably can't picture the East Wing. There's no TV show about it. It has no famous office to rival the Oval. There are relatively few photos of it in its current form.

As someone who worked there for six months (I moved to the West Wing after the 1984 election), allow me to sing its praises: The East Wing was built in 1902 as a visitors' entrance and then expanded in 1942 to house the first lady's offices. Its style echoes the West Wing in design and footprint, which gives the White House complex a rough symmetry. Like the West Wing, it's smaller than Hollywood imagines. It conveys stability and authority without ostentation. Unlike the West Wing, it's flooded with sunlight and, at least when Nancy Reagan held court, adorned with fresh flowers. The two-story structure melds seamlessly into the surrounding gardens. You can hardly see it from the street.

Now President Donald Trump has announced that he will "modernize" (which must mean demolish) the East Wing and replace it with a huge, gaudy ballroom. At 90,000 square feet, the ballroom will dwarf the West Wing and even the residence. Naturally it will be adorned in white and gold (to get a flavor, have a look at the way Trump has decorated the Oval Office). This permanent disfigurement will solve a problem that doesn't exist. When the president entertains more people than can comfortably fit in the East Room (about 200), tents are erected on the lawn complete with floors and walls. But Trump is dissatisfied with the historic building that was good enough for Lincoln and Eisenhower and Reagan. Ladies' high heels sink into the grass, he says, explaining why he has also paved over the Rose Garden.

But rather than rail against this desecration of a key national symbol, perhaps it's better to welcome it. The presidency will never be the same post-Trump, so why not the White House? Why not make concrete and visible the destruction of centuries-old norms and values?

This president has just elevated to a Court of Appeals a lawyer who presided over a purge of FBI agents who investigated Trump for January 6 and instructed his underlings at the Justice Department to "F—- the courts." He has opened a criminal investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith on the specious charge of violating the Hatch Act. His attorney general has opened a disciplinary investigation of Judge James Boasberg because Boasberg privately expressed concerns that the Trump administration might, to borrow a phrase, "F— the courts."

Trump has solicited the gift of a jet from a foreign potentate. He has prostituted his office to the highest bidder by floating meme coins. He has pardoned more than 1,500 rioters who attempted to steal the 2020 election for him. He has shaken down leading law firms, media companies and universities by threatening their livelihoods with government action. He has removed protection from recent immigrants, like Afghans, who risked their lives to ally with us. He has cut off humanitarian aid to millions of the world's poor without so much as a fig leaf by way of explanation. He has appointed conspiracy nuts and kooks to key government posts like the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Counterterrorism Center, and as Director of National Intelligence. He has deported innocent people to torture chambers in foreign countries.

And always and everywhere, he has annihilated truth, most recently by firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because her agency produced honest numbers rather than the ones the president preferred.

This presidency is a repudiation of the republican principles of our founding. Trump is a walking wrecking ball of law, tradition, civility, manners and morals. Many visitors to the nation's capital won't know or understand much of that damage. But starting now with the paving of the Rose Garden, and coming soon with the construction of a garish ballroom, they will see a physical representation of a low and shameful time. The once graceful executive mansion will be transformed into something tasteless and embarrassing. It will be both awful and fitting.

Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her latest book is Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Suspect Captured In Second Trump Assassination Attempt

Suspect Captured In Second Trump Assassination Attempt

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe on Sunday after the Secret Service foiled what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Secret Service agents spotted and fired on a gunman in bushes near the property line of the golf course, a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing, law enforcement officials said.

The suspect left an AK-47-style assault rifle and other items at the scene and fled in a vehicle but was later arrested.

The apparent attempt on Trump's life came just two months after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, sustaining a minor injury to his right ear.

Both incidents highlight the challenges of keeping presidential candidates safe in a hotly contested and polarized campaign with just over seven weeks to go before the Nov. 5 election.

It was not clear if or how the suspect knew Trump was playing golf at the time, but the attempted attack was sure to raise new questions about the level of protection he is given.

CNN, Fox News and The New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement officials. The FBI declined to comment and Reuters could not independently verify his identity.

Reuters found profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a Ryan Routh who appeared to be the man identified as the suspect by those news organizations.

Reuters was not able to confirm these were the suspect's accounts and law enforcement agencies declined to comment, but public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed hours after the shooting.

The three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. In several of the posts, he appeared to be trying to help recruit soldiers for Ukraine's war effort.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Secret Service agents saw a rifle barrel poking out from bushes about 400 to 500 yards (365 to 460 meters) away from Trump as they cleared holes of potential threats ahead of his play.

The agents engaged the gunman, firing at least four rounds of ammunition around 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT).The gunman then dropped his rifle, and left behind two backpacks and other items, and fled in a black Nissan car. The sheriff said a witness saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate before he escaped."

"The Secret Service did exactly what should have been done," Bradshaw said, declining to identify the suspect or provide a possible motive.

After the suspect fled the scene, police sent out an alert to statewide agencies with the information on his vehicle, which led to sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Martin County apprehending the suspect on I-95 about 40 miles (65km) from the golf course.

Fox News presenter Sean Hannity said he'd spoken to both Trump and Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor and longtime Trump friend who was on the golf course with him on Sunday."

They were on the fifth hole. And the way Steve described this, the way the president described it, they both had exactly the same story, which is that they heard pop pop, pop pop," said Hannity. The Secret Service "pounced on the president, covered him", he added.

Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, in an interview with the New York Times, said he had spoken with Trump and the former president expressed gratitude for his Secret Service detail, adding that the president said, "These people are awesome."

In response to a reporter’s question, officials acknowledged that because Trump is not in office, the full golf course was not cordoned off."

If he was, we would have had the entire golf course surrounded,” Bradshaw said during Sunday's briefing. “Because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

Trump sent an email to supporters saying there were "gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!" according to an email seen by Reuters.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident and were relieved to know that he was safe.

Biden later said he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service has the resources it needs to ensure Trump's safety, according to a statement released by the White House.

Trump is locked in a tight presidential election race with Harris, who has had a surge in the polls since replacing Biden as the Democratic Party's candidate in July."

Violence has no place in America," Harris said in an X social media post.

On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and mocked Biden as "sleepy Joe."

Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."

Trump's running mate in the presidential election, U.S. Senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits.

Trump was grazed in the right ear and one rallygoer was killed in the gunfire at the Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The gunman, identified as a 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.

That was the first shooting of a U.S. president or major party presidential candidate in more than four decades, and the glaring security lapse forced Kimberly Cheatle to resign as Secret Service director under bipartisan congressional pressure.

The Secret Service's new acting director said in August that he was "ashamed" of the security lapse that led to the assassination attempt.

News agencies reported in profiles of Routh that he had identified himself as a Trump voter in 2016 and a supporter of Nikki Haley on social media, although he made small donations to Democrats on ActBlue in recent years.

Reprinted with permission from Reuters.

Secret Service Leads Federal Effort To Thwart Another January 6 Assault

Secret Service Leads Federal Effort To Thwart Another January 6 Assault

On Wednesday, the Secret Service announced its intention to beef up security around the Capitol on January 6, 2025. As The Washington Post reports, that day has been designated as “a National Special Security Event” by the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service will coordinate with other agencies to provide security for the day.

The real genius of the United States—the feature that made the nation a wonder to others around the world in the 18th century—was the routine transfer of power. It’s something that the nation managed without having to impose this kind of security 45 times in the past.

Now, thanks to one man, a day reserved for a standard, almost ceremonial procedure, has become such a target that its defense places it on par with the most hazardous events, for good reason. Donald Trump has also been planning how he can get his supporters angry enough to attempt a second insurrection.

Meanwhile, the echoes of what happened on January 6, 2021, are far from over.

Earlier this week, former Capitol Hill Police Officer Harry Dunn tweeted his anger over how the Fraternal Order of Police decided to endorse Trump even though he had encouraged violence against law enforcement in the assault on the Capitol.

Dealing with what happened when Trump’s supporters tried to overthrow the government in 2021 isn’t over. On Tuesday, a man was arrested for having “repeatedly struck a police officer with a flagpole” on January 6. That man then went on Facebook to brag that the Trump insurrectionists “took our house back.”

In supporting Trump, the FOP embraced this man and all the others who assaulted their fellow officers—a twisted, pathetic decision.

The move to protect the Capitol this time around came after Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a request and the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack approved resources to protect members of Congress during the electoral vote count.

However, that protection is not guaranteed. Funds still have to be allocated to the Secret Service for the plan to move forward, and with Republicans caught up in another internal war, those funds are far from a sure thing.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been unable to move a funding bill forward. The last attempt was pulled from the floor on Wednesday after a group of Republicans rebelled against party leadership. There are reports the House will try again Thursday, but there’s no assurance that whatever legislation results will include provisions to fund protection of the Capitol.

According to the Post, a good deal of work has gone into preventing a repeat of what happened after the last election.

Across Washington and the country, lawmakers, aides, lawyers, activists, political strategists and law enforcement officers who aim to protect the peaceful transition of power next January have spent much of the past few years thinking through and preparing for a dizzying array of nightmare post-election scenarios.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to believe that there have also been groups preparing to defeat security measures and deliver those nightmares.

And it’s also easy to believe that instead of securing democracy, Republicans may still leave the doors unlocked and invite a fresh coup attempt.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Eric Trump

Eric Trump Suggests Democrats Are Plotting To Assassinate His Father

Eric Trump, the son of former President Donald Trump, said that he would "take a bullet" for Secret Service agents after his father was shot at a rally earlier this month.

During a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump if he had requested more security for his father.

"Maria, I'm going to try to bite my tongue as much as humanly possible on this one, but it's obviously a sore subject," Trump said. "You know, first of all, I love the men and women of the Secret Service."

"They were with me for almost five years, and I would take a bullet for them just as fast as they would take a bullet for me," he continued. Some of them are dear friends, personal friends, and they are incredible people."

Trump said the agents on the ground with his father "did their job, and they did it incredibly well."

"The director of the Secret Service should resign in absolute disgrace," he insisted. "The fact that the Biden administration could allow a former president and very likely a future president to take a bullet through the ear, and there's no accountability, and the person's still in their job, just shows how disgraceful and inept the administration is."

The president's son suggested Democrats were behind a plot to kill his father.

"I said that the Democrats would stop at absolutely nothing," he explained. "And I've said on this show before, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried something even worse, alluding to exactly what happened just over a week ago from today."

"And I'm not a tinfoil hat-wearing guy," he added. "In fact, I'm probably a little bit more centrist than a lot of people would otherwise understand."

"But I've seen the way that they've attacked him. I've seen the way that they've tried to get him, and they would stop at absolutely nothing."

Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.

Eric Trrump says he would 'take a bullet' for the Secret Service

via Fox News

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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