Latest news with #assassinationattempt
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump reveals how surviving assassin's bullet has affected him, how he trusts 'almost nobody' and what he really thinks of King Charles and Keir Starmer in extraordinary new interview
Donald Trump has revealed how surviving an assassination attempt a year ago affected him, recounting the ordeal in a bombshell new interview. In a conversation with the BBC to mark the anniversary of the attempt on his life, the US President said that he tried to think about it as little as possible. 'I don't like to think about if it did change me,' he said, before adding that the moment 'could be life-changing'. He said he agreed to the interview with BBC North America Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, who had been at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, because he felt at the time that he had covered the story 'fairly'. Detailing how events played out, Trump said: 'It happened very quickly and I'm not sure I had any conscious thought other than to say that I had to let the people know, because I knew they must've thought that it was a disaster. 'I could tell by the dead silence and everything, we had 55,000 people, and it was dead silence so I assumed that they expected the worst. And so I had to let them know I was okay so I had to get up as quick as possible. 'They had a stretcher ready to go, I said "no thank you."' The US leader also used the wide-ranging phone call interview to lash out at Vladimir Putin, warning that while he is not yet 'done' with the Russian president, he is 'disappointed' and does not trust him. Discussing peace talks with Russia over Ukraine, he said: 'I thought I had a deal four times.' When asked whether he had therefore had enough of Putin, he replied: 'I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed with him. 'We had a deal four times and then you go home and you see he's attacked a nursing home or something or Kyiv, and you say "what the hell was that all about".' Asked whether he trusted Putin, Trump took a long pause before replying: 'I trust almost nobody, to be honest with you.' Pressed on how he would get Putin to 'stop the bloodshed' in Ukraine, he insisted: 'We're working it.' But he then vented yet more frustration with the Russian leader: 'We'll have a great conversation. I'll say: "That's good, I'll think we're close to getting it done," and then he'll knock down a building in Kyiv.' Ahead of his trip to London to meet Sir Keir Starmer in July, and state visit to the UK in September, Trump also revealed his feelings about the Prime Minister and the King. He began with a criticism of how Brexit was handled, but suggested the PM was dealing with it. 'I think it's been on the sloppy side, but I think it's getting straightened out,' he said. 'I really like the Prime Minister a lot, even though he's a liberal. He did a good trade deal with us which a lot of countries haven't been able to do.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Hawley urges DHS Secretary Noem to declassify all Trump Butler rally assassination attempt documents
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to declassify all documents related to the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Hawley's request comes a year after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off several shots at Trump from a rooftop near the presidential rally grounds. The gunman had a clear shot and grazed the president's ear. Even after a year, though, questions still remain about how Crooks was able to get a clear shot. In his letter to Noem, Hawley mentions the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt on Trump. "This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation's history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis," he wrote. "To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024. "As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life," Hawley continued. "And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government." The senator pointed to investigation stonewalling tactics from the Biden administration's Secret Service and DHS, which he said ultimately denied basic facts to the American people. "The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date," Hawley wrote. "In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. "Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety," he said. "The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures." Hawley requested a complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews and coordinated records with other agencies. He also requested a formal explanation for the continued classification of materials Noem believes must remain restricted, as well as a proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, all by July 30, 2025. Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS for comment on the matter. Hawley released a report in September, detailing the failures of the Secret Service in connection with the attempted assassination of Trump in July, which included whistleblower allegations that are "highly damaging to the credibility" of the agency. The report uncovered a "compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding." Hawley accused the Secret Service, FBI and DHS of all trying "to evade real accountability." "These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility," the report states. After the first of two assassination attempts against Trump in just over two months, Hawley visited the Butler rally site to interview whistleblowers and opened up a whistleblower tip line, encouraging those with relevant information to share with officials. Documents subpoenaed by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs also show major failures among the six U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents who were suspended without pay in response to the assassination attempt. The documents were based on interviews with the agents and their colleagues and revealed that several agents admitted the existence of major security concerns at the Butler rally, but none of them elevated the concerns or helped produce a plan to properly cover the roof that provided Crooks a clear shot of Trump. The documents show that some agents in charge never even conducted walk-throughs of the site. For example, the lead advance agent, documents show, never did a final security walk-through of the rally site because she was in the hospital for heat exhaustion, the special agent in charge said when questioned. Some of the agents were suspended without pay for various terms, though none of the agents were fired.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Report gives new details on Trump assassination attempt suspect's 'descent into madness'
The 20-year-old gunman who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer experienced a "descent into madness" leading up to the incident, during which he was "having conversations with someone that wasn't there," a new report says. The New York Times, citing thousands of pages of school assignments, internet activity logs and interviews with dozens of people who knew Thomas Matthew Crooks and the investigation surrounding him, among other documents, reported this week that "he went through a gradual and largely hidden transformation from a meek engineering student critical of political polarization to a focused killer who tried to build bombs." "There was a mysteriousness to Thomas Crooks's descent into madness," Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who served on a Congressional task force that investigated the July 13, 2024 shooting, told the newspaper. He was "having conversations with someone that wasn't there," Higgins added, after learning information about Crooks' mental health during a trip to Pennsylvania to investigate the assassination attempt. TEXTS REVEAL OFFICERS WERE AWARE OF THOMAS CROOKS 90 MINUTES BEFORE SHOOTING Prior to the shooting targeting Trump, the only time Crooks got into trouble was receiving lunch detention in middle school for chewing gum, according to the New York Times. The newspaper reported that Crooks scored 1530 out of a possible 1600 on the SAT and graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County, where he spent several semesters on the dean's list while earning an engineering degree. He was preparing to transfer to Robert Morris University located outside of Pittsburgh, telling classmates he wanted to have a career in aerospace or robotics, the newspaper added. However, Crooks' father noticed his son's mental health taking a turn in the year before the shooting and especially after the May 2024 graduation, telling investigators he had seen Thomas talking to himself and dancing around in his bedroom late at night, the newspaper said. The alleged behavior coincided with a history of mental health and addiction struggles in Crooks' family, the New York Times reported, citing portions of a report from the Pennsylvania State Police. A classmate said to the newspaper that during high school, Crooks enjoyed talking about the economy and cryptocurrencies. At community college, he reportedly designed a chess board for the visually impaired, such as his mother, the New York Times added. "He seemed like a really intelligent kid – I thought he would be able to do whatever he wanted," Trish Thompson, who taught Crooks' engineering at the Community College of Allegheny County, told the newspaper. About a year before graduation, in April 2023, Crooks reportedly wrote an essay in favor of ranked-choice voting in American politics, arguing against "divisive and incendiary campaigns which are pulling the country apart." "As we move closer to the 2024 elections we should consider carefully the means by which we elect our officials," Crooks was quoted by the New York Times as saying. "We need an election system that promotes kindness and cooperation instead of division and anger." ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSIN SEEN WALKING AROUND PENNSYLVANIA RALLY HOURS BEFORE OPENING FIRE Around that same time, the FBI said, Crooks made more than 25 different firearm-related purchases from online vendors using an alias. One purchase that Crooks made with an encrypted email address was gallons of nitromethane, a fuel additive that can be used to build explosives, according to the New York Times. He reportedly listed his home address for the delivery. In the summer of 2023, Crooks joined a local gun club, the New York Times reported. The newspaper added that Crooks visited news and gun websites, as well as the Trump administration's archives, before narrowing his online searches in the days leading up to the attack to queries such as 'How far was Oswald from Kennedy?'" Searches also included "major depressive disorder" and "depression crisis," the Times said. He also reportedly continued to show up for his job as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the weeks leading up to the Trump assassination attempt. On the night of the shooting, ATF agents visited Crooks' home in Bethel Park but had to evacuate after one spotted an ammunition can "with a white wire coming out" and a gallon jug labeled "nitromethane" in his closet, according to the New York Times. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Outside the property, agents then interviewed Crooks' parents, with them saying he liked building things and visiting the gun range, and his father also reportedly claiming that he did not "know anything" about his son.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
One year after Trump assassination attempt, Butler widow demands accountability from Secret Service
One year after Corey Comperatore was killed at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, his widow is demanding accountability from the Secret Service. "We were all sitting ducks that day. Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life. They screwed up," Helen Comperatore told Fox News. The Secret Service has admitted to multiple failures after 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks climbed onto a rooftop and fired off eight rounds. Those shots killed Comperatore and wounded three others, including then-former President Donald Trump. "Why Butler? Why was that such a failure? Why weren't they paying attention? Why did they think that that roof didn't need covered? I want to sit down and talk to them. I have the right to. They need to listen to me," Comperatore said. TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES RECOUNTS BUTLER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, THOUGHT PRESIDENT WAS DEAD AT FIRST WATCH: FOX NATION'S 'BUTLER UNDER FIRE: THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE' Police say Crooks fired those gunshots. Investigators say the once-shy college student planned the attack for days, stockpiling weapons and making explosives in his bedroom. "If you could talk to Thomas Crooks' parents, what would you tell them?" Fox News Correspondent Alexis McAdams asked Helen Comperatore. JOURNALIST WHO REFUSED TO DUCK DURING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT REFLECTS ON BUTLER RALLY IN NEW BOOK "Why would you not go in there and look in his room and say…you know what son, you need help," Comperatore said. Trump said there will be a comprehensive report made about the assassination attempt, though it is unclear when that will be made public. FOX NATION REVEALS NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN BUTLER CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Six Secret Service agents were suspended without pay or benefits on Wednesday in the wake of the shooting, the agency confirmed.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Secret Service changes the agency has made post-Trump Butler assassination attempt
The Secret Service has ushered in a series of changes to beef up its security measures in the aftermath of the July 2024 assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania – including suspending six of its agents due to their response to the crisis. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn disclosed the suspensions Wednesday in an interview with CBS News, and said the consequences ranged from 10 days to 42 days of unpaid leave. Additionally, he said the agents would return to restricted roles following the suspension, and said the agency was "laser focused on fixing the root cause of the problem." "Secret Service is totally accountable for Butler," Quinn told CBS. "Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again." The Secret Service confirmed to Fox News that the suspensions went into effect in February and that no agents had been fired. The agency faced harsh scrutiny in the aftermath of the ambush, where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight bullets at Trump from a rooftop during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024. A bullet grazed Trump's ear, and the gunman killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, father and husband attending the rally. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Bill Gage, who served as a Secret Service special agent for former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital that the attempted assassination served as a wake-up call for the agency – bringing about overdue changes to the Secret Service. Specifically, Gage said the incident prompted the Secret Service to "create new divisions, new units to counter modern threats, and gave the agency a real focus." Former Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe told lawmakers on a bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempt in December 2024 that the immediate changes to the agency included expanding the use of drones for surveillance purposes, and also incorporating greater counter-drone technology to mitigate kinetic attacks from other drones. Likewise, the agency also overhauled its radio communications networks and interoperability of those networks with Secret Service personnel, and state and local law enforcement officers. Streamlining these radio communications is a major change, according to Gage, who said he sometimes was outfitted with up to five radios because an integrated system didn't exist. Rowe also told lawmakers that the agency is seeking to beef up its staffing, and had assigned more special agents to Trump's security detail. Rowe said the agency was planning to use some of the additional $231 million in funding that Congress approved for the Secret Service in a stopgap spending bill in September 2024 to hire 1,000 new agents and officers in 2025. Other potential changes in the works include constructing a precise replica of the White House, instead of using Tyler Perry's White House replica at his Atlanta film studio as agents historically have done. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in an April interview with Fox News' "My View with Lara Trump" that the agency is coordinating with the White House to build the replica at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Maryland. Gage called it "inexcusable" that a replica of the White House didn't already exist and said even more value should be placed on training. "The service should really focus on training," Gage said. "There needs to be an increased mindset for training, where training is viewed as just as important as your assigned shift."
