Secret Service missed opportunities to prevent Trump shooting: watchdog [View all]

Source: USA Today

Updated July 2, 2026, 9:08 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON – The Secret Service missed several opportunities to detect, prevent and disrupt a 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, who was then a candidate, and the agency was significantly understaffed that year, according to a pair of watchdog reports released July 2.

The findings largely echoed previous internal and external investigations of Trump being shot in the ear as a candidate in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The Secret Service agreed with the critiques and said that it had remedied several of the problems cited in the reports from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.

"The U.S. Secret Service today is a stronger and more capable agency than it was in 2024, thanks in part to significant institutional reforms and investments in technology, personnel, and protective operations," the agency said in a statement.

The assassination attempt had already led to an overhaul of Secret Service leadership after Trump was shot and a spectator was killed at his campaign rally before a law enforcement sniper killed the gunman.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/02/secret-service-trump-assassination-attempt/90788035007/