Biden says Secret Service needs more help as scrutiny of agency mounts

Investigators on Tuesday were examining how a felon came to possess the semiautomatic rifle that he carried while hiding near President Donald Trump's golf course for nearly 12 hours before being arrested, an episode that has renewed scrutiny of the Secret Service and injected another volatile element into the 2024 election.

President Joe Biden called for more resources to be given to the Secret Service after the apparent assassination attempt on Sunday once again raised questions about the agency's capabilities, two months after Trump was wounded in a shooting at a campaign rally.

Federal investigators are looking into the motives of the would-be shooter who hid near Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, while he was playing there. Questions remain about how the man, Ryan W. Routh, 58, a felon, obtained the rifle and learned of Trump's weekend whereabouts.

Trump on Monday blamed what he called Democrats' "inflammatory language" for the incident, even as he called them the "enemy from within." Vice President Kamala Harris said she was "deeply disturbed" by the incident, and condemned political violence.

Here are the latest developments:

Secret Service: Agency personnel did not search the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club on Sunday before Trump began his round, a disclosure that raised further questions about whether the Secret Service has the resources to adequately perform its duties during a time of increasing violence and a unique campaign between a sitting vice president and a former president. The acting director of the agency praised agents for spotting the barrel of a gun poking through the bushes at the golf club and firing at the would-be assailant.

The suspect: Routh appeared Monday in federal court, where he faced charges of possessing a firearm as a felon, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Routh published a rambling online screed last year titled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War," in which he called Trump a "buffoon" and appeared to suggest that Iran, and perhaps readers, were "free to assassinate Trump."

Biden's comments: The Secret Service "needs more help," Biden told reporters Monday, adding that Congress should act to provide those resources. A White House official said Biden had spoken with Trump and expressed relief that he was safe.

Trump's account: Trump gave his first extensive public account of what happened during an interview broadcast on the social platform X on Monday night. He described hearing several shots in the distance and then being grabbed and moved by Secret Service agents, who he said did a "fantastic job." He joked that he "would have loved to have sank that last putt."

July shooting: Top House officials are considering whether to hold a vote to expand the jurisdiction of a task force commissioned to investigate the circumstances of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to include Sunday's events, according to two people familiar with the matter.