The Secret Service has told Donald Trump that agents cannot keep him safe on his golf courses without significantly enhancing his security arrangements, according to reports.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe informed the former president that a major increase in security resources and coordination is needed if he wants to keep playing golf at some of his sources, according to the New York Times.
The recommendation came during a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday — a day after alleged gunman Ryan Routh was caught laying in wait in the golf course bushes with an SKS assault rifle — just hundreds of yards from the former president as he golfed.
Trump campaign officials have complained that they have requested additional Secret Service personnel, but have not received the additional resources, according to The Times.
It was a tense meeting between Trump and the Secret Service, with the former president asking whether he was safe to continue golfing and director Rowe explaining how difficult it is to secure a large golf course in the direct vicinity of public roads, the Times reported.
Photographers frequently snag photos of Trump golfing at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach – something he brought up during the meeting, suggesting that if photographers could see him then a gunman with a scope could too, according to the newspaper.