Six Secret Service agents suspended over Trump assassination attempt
The Secret Service did not identify the agents or disclose specific grounds for their suspensions.
A gunman opened fire at Mr Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July last year, while the candidate was speaking on stage.
The shooter accessed a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to the former president.
Mr Trump and others were injured, and a bystander and the shooter were killed. Multiple investigations were launched into the Secret Service, and its director resigned.
Mr Trump said in an interview that will air on Saturday on Fox News that the Secret Service erred by not stationing an agent on the rooftop and not including local police in the communications system.
"There were mistakes made. And that shouldn't have happened," Mr Trump said in the interview conducted by his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who has her own show on the Trump-friendly news channel.
Mr Trump said that the elite close-protection service "had a bad day."
The Republican - whose ear was nicked by a bullet while he addressed an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania - noted that the would-be assassin had access to a "prime building" overlooking the rally.
One bystander was killed and two other people in addition to Mr Trump were wounded before a counter-sniper killed the gunman - 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.
The sniper "was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn't do that, you would have had an even worse situation," Mr Trump said.
"His name is David and he did a fantastic job."
Speaking of the post-incident investigation and "the larger plot," Mr Trump said "I'm satisfied with it."
"It was unforgettable," he said, recalling the drama. "I didn't know exactly what was going on.
"I got whacked. There's no question about that. And fortunately, I got down quickly. People were screaming."
Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who was the agent in charge of Mr Trump's security detail at the rally, said in a statement: "The agency has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future."
The Secret Service said it has implemented 21 of 46 recommendations made by congressional oversight bodies.
Sixteen other recommendations were in progress and nine were not directed at the Secret Service, it said.
The Secret Service said it was implementing protective measures for golf courses.
After the Butler assassination attempt, a man with a gun hid near a Trump-owned golf course in Florida with the intent to kill the then-Republican presidential candidate.
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Irish Times
18 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Michelle O'Neill: ‘The British state killed local people. Those moments contribute to who you are'
As Michelle O'Neill walks in her home village of Clonoe, east Co Tyrone , there is not a person she passes who does not say hello or a driver who fails to wave from a passing car. O'Neill greets them all in return. Eventually, The Irish Times inquires as to whether she has adopted her own special wave like Queen Elizabeth II's ? 'They do tease me about that,' she says with a laugh. Clonoe is where the First Minister of Northern Ireland and Sinn Féin vice-president spent her formative years and where she still lives. As O'Neill shows us around, it is evident how her family, her village and her community have shaped the person she is and the politician she has become. READ MORE 'I'm Michelle who's from this area. There's no airs and graces, but sure, this is my home. This is where I feel comfortable.' At the heart of this staunchly republican village is Clonoe O'Rahillys GAA club with modern pitches and a redeveloped clubhouse, which also houses the community centre. A plaque commemorates its official opening by the then MP for the area and O'Neill's 'mentor', Martin McGuinness , in November 1998. Michelle O'Neill standing by the pitch at Clonoe O'Rahillys GAA club near where she grew up in Co Tyrone. Photograph: Alan Betson Was she here that day? 'Absolutely.' She was 'a young mummy, my child was four … it was, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement , such a moment of hope and opportunity for people, and the club being opened captured, in a very local way, that new beginning and that new hope'. Outside, she shows off the Gaelscoil, the village's business park and her favourite walking route along the canal path. 'This is part of my mindfulness, my relaxation, keeping myself right, going out walking with friends … get a bit of head space to talk about things that aren't in the political sphere,' she says. 'Because we're all human at the end of the day, even those of us in politics, so I like that – I need that, actually, to keep doing what I'm doing.' She was born in Fermoy, Co Cork , in 1977. The family returned to nearby Coalisland when O'Neill was a baby, then to her father's homeplace of Clonoe to a new row of bungalows her father helped build and where her mother, Kathleen, still lives. In 1968, discrimination in the allocation of housing in east Tyrone helped spark the first civil rights march, from Coalisland to Dungannon. 'When we got the opportunity to move, my mummy didn't believe my daddy, actually. She said to Daddy, 'Brendan, we're not the kind of people who can buy a home' and he said, 'Yes, we can'.' O'Neill speaks warmly of a 'good family life' with 'strong role models around us', including her mother who gave up work so Michelle could go back to school after she became pregnant at 16. O'Neill has spoken previously about how she was prayed over by some at her Catholic grammar school, how she sat her GCSEs a few days after giving birth and then the 'huge fuss' made about her returning for A-levels. Michelle O'Neill: 'Partition failed my community, failed every community across the island.' Photograph: Alan Betson 'It was difficult,' she says, but also says 'I suppose it does make you more resilient' just as 'being a young mummy shapes who you are, being responsible for this beautiful little being and wanting the world to be better for her'. From an early age, O'Neill was aware she 'grew up in a family, in a society, in a community that was discriminated against, that was treated with inequality on a day-to-day basis'. There was 'a lot of loss in the community, many moments when the British state killed local lads, local people, local people that weren't much older than me … all those moments contribute to shaping who you are'. Among them was her cousin, Tony Doris, one of three members of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade who were on 'active service' when they were shot dead in a SAS ambush in nearby Coagh in 1991. O'Neill was 14. 'It was horrendous for his immediate family, obviously, and all these things have lasting impacts, and that's the same for every family that lost. My experience, unfortunately, was felt by far too many people.' O'Neill's father, Brendan Doris, was an IRA prisoner and local councillor. 'He was such a community activist. He was a man who was very much wedded to his community, and I liked what he did. I liked how he helped people. So I suppose, maybe it was always organic that I would go down the route that I took in terms of going into politics.' Even then, her goal was 'Irish unity. I think partition failed my community, failed every community across the island', she says. 'But I'm somebody who was gifted the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. I had just turned 21 and that gave me that precious gift of peace. 'It made me determined that I am going to go out and I'm going to work this because this is a democratic pathway towards the unification of this island and I am going to grab it. That's really been my journey ever since.' O'Neill joined Sinn Féin in her early teens. In 1998 she officially started working for the party. She was elected a councillor in 2005, then to Stormont in 2007. Michelle O'Neill with fellow Sinn Féin politicians Francis Molloy, left, and Martin McGuinness following their election in 2007. Photograph: Eric Luke A former minister for agriculture and then health, in 2017 she replaced McGuinness when he stood down as deputy first minister. Last year, she became First Minister, making history as the first nationalist to do so. As she walked down the grand staircase into the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings and then into the Chamber, she allowed herself a smile. 'There's no doubt it was a moment of pride, personal pride, pride for my community, for my family,' she says. 'I suppose I felt the weight of the moment of history on my shoulders, I felt the expectation on my shoulders, but that in itself is a motivator. 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'But is it the right thing to do to try and reconcile the people on this island? Yes, it is. 'So, for me, that outweighs any personal feeling.' But equally she says: 'I go to republican commemorations because that's who I am. I've never shied away from that. I don't distance myself from that.' Can she understand why this is difficult for many, particularly those who lost loved-ones to the IRA? 'I do think about it,' she says. 'I understand there are many people out there that have a different narrative than me and I respect that that's their view. It's also perhaps their lived experience, but mine's different.' But, she says, part of reconciling is 'actually understanding that it's okay – we may have different narratives, but we need to respect that is actually the case. 'That understanding is what allows me to say what I can say – what I said whenever I became First Minister – because I absolutely am sorry that anybody lost a loved one. 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Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA 'The party is still deliberating. We're actively having conversations. We've seen others enter into the field and we'll make our position known very shortly.' Will McDonald lead Sinn Féin into the next general election? 'Absolutely,' she says. Is O'Neill a future leader of her party? 'Well, there's no vacant position,' she says with a laugh. One day? 'I also love being vice-president … and working alongside Mary Lou. She's described me before as her wing woman. That's very much who I am.' The role of First Minister 'is my priority, and that's where I need to be focused … I'm more than content with where I am'.
Irish Times
42 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Spending on infrastructure makes sense, cutting VAT on hospitality is quite mad
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Donal O'Donovan: Trade deal is big win for Donald Trump, bad loss for Europeans and a disaster for the EU
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