3 minPolitics
GAO report finds Secret Service failed to address drone threats before Trump assassination attempt
A government watchdog report found the Secret Service left drone-related security threats unaddressed and failed to document why it did not update its protection policies, information that may have helped illustrate the emerging threat before the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Secret Service dealt with several drone-related security incidents without adjusting its protection policies or documenting why it did not, according to a government report released Thursday. The Government Accountability Office found delays and gaps in how the agency updates its policies regarding threats, and the report noted that information from those incidents may have helped illustrate the emerging danger of civilian drone use before one was used in the 2024 assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The report found that between 2015 and 2025, the Secret Service handled 83 security incidents and updated its protection policies in response to only 25 of them. Among the incidents was a drone that made contact with President Barack Obama's motorcade in 2015 and another flown about 200 feet over a rally for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Nathan Tranquilli, acting director of the Government Accountability Office, said failing to document why the Secret Service decided not to change its policy is the central concern, calling the drone incidents a compelling example of that problem.
Some of the missing information has been relevant to subsequent attacks, the report read. It cited the Butler incident, where the would-be assassin flew a drone for 11 minutes over the crowd, which helped him position himself to get a clear shot at Trump. The gunman in that case positioned himself on a roof left unsecured, nicking the president's ear with a bullet. Months later, a man with a rifle got surprisingly close to Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, and in April, an armed man got beyond security barriers at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the president sat.
The report also found that the Secret Service failed to update eight of 22 protection policies within a required time frame of four years. A memorandum of understanding between the Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service, which designates each agency's responsibilities for the president's overseas security, has not been updated since 1991, even though an annual review and update is required. As a consequence, the memorandum does not address newer threats, such as drones.
Tranquilli described the Secret Service mission as a zero-fail mission with a ton of challenges, adding that when decisions were being made about where to put time and energy, some things fell to the side, resulting in delays. The report recommended three fixes, including that the Secret Service revise its policy to require that, when a security incident does not warrant a policy update, the rationale is documented.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the report stated that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, agreed with all recommendations and plans to implement changes.
