Secret Service Ignored Trump Threat Days Before Attempted Assassination, Explosive Report Reveals
The U.S. Secret Service received classified intelligence about a credible threat to President Donald J. Trump’s life nearly two weeks before the attempted assassination at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania—but failed to act decisively, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirms.
The devastating GAO findings, commissioned by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), paint a picture of bureaucratic complacency, negligence, and systemic breakdowns that nearly cost the life of the 47th President of the United States during his 2024 campaign.
According to the report, intelligence officials briefed the Secret Service 10 days prior to the July 13 rally about a specific threat targeting Trump. But that critical information was never passed down to local law enforcement or even to members of the Donald Trump Protective Division. The failure to distribute that classified threat assessment left frontline personnel blind to the danger they were facing.
“Americans should be grateful that President Trump survived that day and was ultimately reelected to restore common sense to our country,” Grassley said in a statement, directly pointing the finger at the Biden administration for denying prior requests for enhanced protection.
President Trump, who was grazed by a bullet during the speech and famously rose to his feet, raised a bloodied fist, and called on supporters to “Fight, fight, fight,” had reportedly asked for additional security measures ahead of the rally. That request was denied.
Instead, according to the GAO, the Secret Service suffered from “misallocation of resources, inadequate training, and widespread communication breakdowns” that culminated in one of the most harrowing moments in modern American political history.
One hero, Cory Comperatore, lost his life shielding his family. Two others were injured. The would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was taken down by a counter-sniper team while positioned on a rooftop—one of the few last-minute security upgrades approved just in time.
Fox News reports that the agent tasked with identifying vulnerabilities at the site was new to her role and planning her first major outdoor event. Crucially, the GAO found that she lacked experience in securing high-risk locations like the Butler fairgrounds.
Compounding the failure, a Trump campaign staffer—unaware of the classified threat—had asked the Secret Service not to position heavy farm equipment that would have obstructed the press’ view. The Secret Service advance team complied, potentially granting the gunman a cleaner line of sight to the stage.
Also troubling, a formal Secret Service policy for escalating security requests from a protectee’s team didn’t exist at the time. And when Trump’s team requested counter-drone (cUAS) surveillance equipment, the Secret Service rejected it—claiming those resources were already reserved for the political conventions.
The report makes clear that only a last-minute override by senior officials allowed for counter-sniper personnel to be deployed to the site. That decision, based on suppressed intelligence the agency had failed to share broadly, likely saved President Trump’s life.
In the aftermath, internal disciplinary action followed. The Secret Service confirmed to Fox News that several supervisors and agents received unpaid suspensions between 10 and 42 days. No terminations have been reported.
President Trump later told Lara Trump on Fox News, “There were mistakes made, and that shouldn’t have happened.”
The GAO’s findings—based on nearly a year of investigation—leave no doubt: this near-tragedy was not merely a matter of chance, but the result of failure after failure by a politically compromised security apparatus. As the nation remembers the anniversary of that day, Americans are left to ask: was this incompetence, or something far worse?