- "I don't know how long I'll be around," said Donald Trump a day after an armed intruder was shot dead
- The suspect illegally entered the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago carrying a shotgun and a fuel can
- The United States Secret Service confirmed that no personnel were injured during the encounter
"I don't know how long I'll be around," said US President Donald Trump a day after an armed intruder was shot dead in his Florida home.
“I've got a lot of people gunning for me, don't I?" the 79-year-old said, responding to the incident. “But I'll not forget them. I'm never gonna forget them.”
"You read about all these crazy shooters, but they only go after consequential presidents," Trump said. "They don't go after non-consequential presidents." He mentioned two assassinated Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy, as examples. "They were consequential," Trump said. "They only go after consequential. So maybe I want to be a little bit less consequential. Can we hold it back a little bit? Can we just, like, nice and easy? Could this be a normal president for a little while?"
The suspect, a man in his early 20s, illegally entered the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. Trump was not present at the estate at the time.
A US Secret Service spokesperson confirmed the shooting in a post on X, saying, “An armed man was shot and killed by US Secret Service agents after unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early this morning.”
The United States Secret Service confirmed that no personnel were injured during the encounter. The FBI, Secret Service, and local authorities are investigating the suspect's background and potential motive. Agents involved were placed on routine administrative leave pending review, as per policy.
There has been a history of threats against Trump. Earlier this month, Ryan Routh, 59, who plotted to assassinate Trump at a Florida golf course in September 2024, was sentenced to life in prison.
On July 13, 2024, Trump was shot and wounded during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots from a nearby roof at the stage, with one bullet grazing Trump's upper right ear. Crooks was immediately shot and killed by security forces.
A year after the Butler attack, Trump said God spared him to save the country from “those who seek its ruin.” “It remains my firm conviction that God alone saved me that day for a righteous purpose: to restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin,” he said at the time.
“An assassin's bullet came within a quarter inch of ending my life and silencing our movement to restore American greatness,” he said. “Yet, by the hand of providence and the grace of Almighty God, my life was spared.”
