Trump Not Allowed to Golf Until After the Election Due to Safety Concerns

After a gunman allegedly intended to fire on former President Donald Trump while he played golf at one of his courses in Florida last month, federal agents told the ex-president that they couldn’t ensure his safety on a wide-open golf course.

NBC News’s Dasha Burns, Julia Ainsley, and Dareh Gregorian reported on Friday that sources close to Trump and his campaign confirmed that Trump would not golf until after the election is over, citing safety concerns:

Trump was told that federal agents could not ensure his safety to a degree that they were comfortable with if he were to play. The concerns were conveyed in two conversations with Trump since the September incident: one with Ronald Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service, and the other with officials from the national intelligence director’s office.

The report said that Trump had been concerned about his safety on the golf course during the campaign while also expressing an eagerness to continue golfing:

Trump had asked Rowe during a meeting last month whether it would be safe for him to continue golfing in the wake of the thwarted assassination attempt, and he was told he would need significant additional security given the proximity of some of his courses to public roads, The New York Times reported last month, citing information from three people familiar with their conversation.

The Secret Service expressed their concerns about Trump’s safety on golf courses after he first became president. The Washington Post wrote last month that “if photographers with long-range lenses could get the president in their sights while he golfed, so, too, could potential gunmen, according to former U.S. officials involved in the discussions.” Trump was apparently unmoved by their concerns and continued to golf:

During Trump’s presidency, his golf outings were a constant source of consternation, according to former officials. Secret Service agents knew they wouldn’t be able to dissuade him from golfing, one former official said, so they asked him, mostly without success, to instead change his routine — at least to avoid going to the same club at the same time every week.

In addition to the courses themselves being difficult to secure, the same Post report said that Trump’s spontaneous golf outings also made it difficult for the Secret Service to employ the kind of security needed to protect Trump, who is not entitled to the same protection as a sitting president.

Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com