A whistleblower from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported that there are five assassination teams planning to harm former President Donald Trump. In case you’re wondering, this isn’t a Netflix drama; it’s the latest in a series of bizarre political headlines.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) broke the news during an interview, saying this whistleblower—a senior DHS official—told him about these teams shortly before the second attempt on Trump’s life occurred in West Palm Beach, Florida. Gaetz explained that there are three teams inspired by foreign governments and two domestic teams. Just to clarify, Gaetz said the U.S. government is fully aware these teams have been targeting Trump but decided to scale back security anyway.
Let’s rewind a bit to July 13, 2024, when Trump narrowly escaped death at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Apparently, a bullet just grazed his ear after he turned his head at the last second. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, didn’t survive the altercation with law enforcement. Three people in the crowd were hit, one fatally. In typical Trump fashion, he threw a fist in the air before being rushed off the stage.
Fast forward to the second attempt, which went down at Trump’s International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. A Secret Service agent noticed a rifle poking through a fence belonging to a 58-year-old Democrat donor and Biden-Harris supporter, Ryan Wesley Routh. The guy fled but was eventually caught and charged. Routh, it turns out, has quite the criminal background.
Now, back to Gaetz, who’s over here wondering why Trump’s security detail isn’t exactly “presidential-level” these days, even with multiple teams apparently planning to take him out. According to Gaetz, this whistleblower said that while Trump was dodging bullets, other security resources were being allocated to, say, Jill Biden. Because clearly, her “threat envelope” (as they call it) is the same as Trump’s, right? No big deal.
This whole thing becomes even more absurd when you learn that the Secret Service allegedly denied Trump’s requests for extra security ahead of the Butler rally. Apparently, being a former president doesn’t get you the same treatment as the current one, according to Senator Josh Hawley’s report. In fact, the Pittsburgh field office was straight-up told Trump wasn’t getting additional security because he’s, well, not in office anymore.
During a Senate hearing on July 30, Secret Service Acting Director Rowe stated that all requested security assets for Butler were approved. However, according to the whistleblower, key teams like counter snipers were left out of the plan Either there’s some miscommunication going on, or somebody’s dropping the ball big time.
Oh, and just when you thought this couldn’t get more intense, there’s news about a guy named Asif Merchant—a Pakistani national who was arrested the day before the Butler incident. He’s been charged with plotting to hire a hitman to kill Trump. He was allegedly working with Iran to coordinate the attempt. Seems like this whole “assassination teams” thing might actually have some legs.
Despite all this chaos, the government hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about these plots. Congress is left in the dark, and U.S. authorities are keeping pretty quiet on other assassination threats targeting Trump and other officials. But what they can’t ignore is the surge in suspected terrorists crossing into the U.S. via the southern border. DHS doesn’t want to release that info because the Biden-Harris administration is trying to pretend there’s no problem.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) isn’t having it, though. He’s saying that by ending effective Trump-era policies, Biden’s left the country wide open for terrorist attacks, creating a “threat from within the homeland.” Perfect. Just what we needed—assassination teams and terrorists running wild.