Just before Donald Trump held a rally in Doral, Fla., on July 9, Secret Service officials told his campaign that the former president and his advisers would notice additional security because the U.S. had credible intelligence of threats against him. Days later, a Pakistani national was arrested during an FBI sting after allegedly taking part in a murder-for-hire plot on behalf of Iran targeting a politician or government official on U.S. soil. The alleged plot raised concerns about Trump’s safety and prompted meetings among top Justice Department officials, reports the Washington Post. On July 13, Trump was grazed by a bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman fired from an unsecured roof about 150 yards away. It left Trump’s team shocked that the gunman — who had no known connection to any foreign power — had such a clear shot at him from such a close distance, given they had been informed that the Secret Service was on high alert.
The series of events in July illustrates the extraordinary challenges facing the Secret Service as it attempts to protect Trump. He not only holds large-scale campaign rallies — as he plans this week — but also routinely hangs out with scores of people at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., and his other resorts. The difficulties have prompted arguments over the past 3½ years between agency officials, Trump and his advisers. His aides grew increasingly angry as many of their requests for additional security were rebuffed by the Secret Service. They were enraged that his Secret Service detail and team were not told for 30 minutes as police officials searched for a suspicious person at the July 13 rally who turned out to be gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks. Trump aides have been forced to cancel or reschedule events when aides felt the venues were not sufficiently secure. They described repeatedly being denied pleas for more snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs, magnetometers and specialty teams to protect Trump, often because agency higher-ups said resources were not available. Agents wanted to harden the famously porous Mar-a-Lago club, where members could bring in strangers, classified documents could be found and Trump roamed around on the patio. Trump's Secret Service detail put together an “Intrusion Detection Plan” it believed would make the club a safer place for Trump. When they asked for several million dollars, they received about 10 percent of what they sought.
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