Trump's Wisconsin event Saturday moving indoors out of Secret Service staffing concerns
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign changed plans for an outdoor event in rural western Wisconsin on Saturday, moving the appearance indoors following staffing shortages from the Secret Service, officials confirmed.
Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center on Saturday afternoon. The campaign, however, originally planned to hold the event outdoors before the Secret Service raised concerns about its ability to secure the event due to staffing shortages, according to a senior official briefed on the planning who was not authorized to speak publicly.
"The agency was never configured to provide such an elevated level of protection for an increasing number of protectees," the Secret Service official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a Paste BN Network partner. "Our personnel and equipment are being pushed to their limits to sustain the current operational tempo."
The official noted the Wisconsin visit landed at the same time of the United Nations General Assembly summit in New York. The agency is responsible for securing the event, which will include many world leaders.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign in Wisconsin did not respond to questions early Friday.
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CBS previously reported on the change of plans.
The change comes as the former president has faced heightened threats in recent months. He was wounded in an assassination attempt at an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania in July, and Secret Service agents this month stopped a second apparent attempt on Trump’s life at his golf course in Florida.
In recent days, the intelligence officials and lawmakers have warned about threats to Trump, as well as current and former administration officials, from Iran.
Congress earlier this week approved about $231 million in additional funding for the Secret Service as part of a short-term stopgap funding measure to avert a government shutdown.
The agency has come under intense scrutiny, including from Wisconsin lawmakers, following the attempts on Trump’s life. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, in particular, has been critical of the agency’s investigation into the July 13 Trump assassination attempt, saying the Secret Service has not been transparent with lawmakers.
Trump is expected to focus on immigration and crime during his stop in western Wisconsin.