Donald Trump Gives Update on Outdoor Rallies

Following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during an outdoor campaign rally earlier this month, the former president gave an update on Saturday on whether he will continue to speak at outdoor rallies.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 when he was shot on stage, with a bullet hitting the upper part of his right ear. The suspected gunman, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed by the Secret Service. A rally attendee, 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore was also killed during the incident and two others were injured.

As the FBI continues its investigation into the shooting, more details of Crooks’ movements have been revealed including that he was positioned on top of a roof of a building nearby the rally with a rifle when he began shooting.

In an all caps post to his Truth Social account on Saturday, Trump vowed to continue to do outdoor campaign rallies, adding that the Secret Service will “substantially step up their operation.”

“I WILL CONTINUE TO DO OUTDOOR RALLIES, AND SECRET SERVICE HAS AGREED TO SUBSTANTIALLY STEP UP THEIR OPERATION. THEY ARE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING SO. NO ONE CAN EVER BE ALLOWED TO STOP OR IMPEDE FREE SPEECH OR GATHERING!!!” he wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s campaign and the Secret Service via email for comment.

This comes as the shooting has since sparked debate about the efficiency of the Secret Service and raised questions about the level of protection Trump and other presidential candidates receive, which resulted in the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Tuesday as the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the shooting.

Security concerns have continued to be raised as the 2024 election continues with various public and outdoor events.

Shortly after the shooting, in response to the raised security questions, Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens said at a late-night news conference, which the Secret Service did not attend, “It is incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public, and to secure that against any possible threat, against a very determined attacker.”

President Joe Biden, who on Sunday dropped out of this year’s presidential race, has since vowed to continue providing Trump with the protection he needs and said, “I’ve been consistent in my direction of the Secret Service to provide him with every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.”

Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has announced her candidacy for the presidency with Biden’s endorsement, have since attended their respective campaign rallies and public events related to this year’s election.

The former president is set to hold a rally on Saturday night in St. Cloud, Minnesota, as he will bring along his running mate JD Vance.

Trump’s Truth Social post comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray gave more details about the shooting and the actions of Crooks.

During a Wednesday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Wray revealed that hours before the rally Crooks flew a drone roughly 200 yards from the stage where the former president spoke.

According to the Associated Press, the FBI has since recovered the drone and a controller from Crooks’ car. In addition, before the attempted assassination of Trump, the gunman researched the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

According to the AP, Wray said during his Wednesday testimony that a laptop tied to Crooks included a Google search of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” The FBI director said the search was conducted on July 6.

This search refers to Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.