Donald Trump promised on Friday that despite warnings from the Secret Service, he would hold more outdoor rallies soon.
"I WILL CONTINUE TO DO OUTDOOR RALLIES, AND SECRET SERVICE HAS AGREED TO SUBSTANTIALLY STEP UP THEIR OPERATION," the former president wrote on his Truth Social site. "THEY ARE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING SO. NO ONE CAN EVER BE ALLOWED TO STOP OR IMPEDE FREE SPEECH OR GATHERING!!!"
Sarah Matthews, a former Trump spokeswoman, said that Trump loved the big crowds that outdoor rallies afforded.
“We’ve seen from the early days of his presidency even, and before that during his first campaign in 2016, how important crowd size is to him. It gives him a lot of joy and energy being with large crowds. He feeds off their energy. It’s almost like a source of comfort for him,” said Matthews, who served as a deputy press secretary in the Trump White House.
The Secret Service doesn't like to be taxed and outdoor rallies are viewed as "onerous" by them.Washington Post:
They include complicated outdoor venues with thousands — if not tens of thousands — of people. Most other former presidents rarely appear in public, and when they do, they usually appear in settings such as conferences and restaurants with fewer people. Trump requires a much larger security footprint than other past presidents because he holds so many large events.
Agents usually arrive well in advance, putting together a security plan for the large outdoor venues
Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, now chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the Post that she has "full confidence" in the Secret Service to protect the former president.
“I think the men and women of the United States Secret Service are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met, Eric [Trump] and I had a Secret Service detail for four years. The people around us were wonderful. The job they did was totally 100% professional,” she continued.
Indeed, Donald Trump had nothing but praise for the Secret Service agents who rushed to the stage and flung their bodies on top of him to shield him from, harm. The breakdown was at the top and Lara Trump made that clear.
“There were obviously some mistakes and some lapses and I ultimately think it’s up to the Secret Service director to answer those questions.”
She never did and now she's gone.
Trump is returning to the scene of the assassination attempt in Butler County, PA sometime soon.
"I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY, HONORING THE SOUL OF OUR BELOVED FIREFIGHTING HERO, COREY, AND THOSE BRAVE PATRIOTS INJURED TWO WEEKS AGO," Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. "WHAT A DAY IT WILL BE — FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS."
Lyndon Johnson remarked in 1963 that after he became president, he never felt safer because the Secret Service was extra vigilant after John Kennedy's assassination. While that's true, Kennedy once said that no one can keep him absolutely safe especially if the assassin is willing to die in order to kill the president.
The Secret Service's biggest fear — an assassin on a rooftop or in a window — came to pass. It's not likely that threat will re-emerge for Trump given the circumstances.
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