What are the levels of security for ex-presidents, other leaders?

( NewsNation ) —A second attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life over the weekend has led to renewed questions about the level of security political leaders are given and if it’s enough.

The FBI is investigating Sunday’s incident that took place outside Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, as an assassination attempt — the second one faced by the former president in recent months.

Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some other former presidents because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again, but it’s still not as high as other leaders.

Who gets Secret Service protection?

The Secret Service is authorized to protect the sitting president and vice president, their immediate families, as well as all former presidents, their spouses and their children under the age of 16, according to the agency.

While in office, neither the president nor vice president can decline protection, but their spouses and children could.

The Secret Service is also authorized by law to protect “major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.”

The agency has no say as to who qualifies as major candidates. That decision is made and then relayed to the Secret Service by the Homeland Security Department secretary.

Agents also protect visiting heads of state, distinguished foreign visitors and U.S. representatives doing special missions abroad.

The president can also assign the Secret Service to protect a person through an executive order.

What’s the difference in security?

Sitting presidents get a higher level of Secret Service security than former presidents.

The Secret Service budgeted more than $2 billion annually to protect the president and the first family in 2017, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Secret Service’s annual budget was about $3 billion in the most recent fiscal year, according to the Office of Management and Data, and about $1.2 billion of that was allocated to the division that oversees protection for the president, vice president and their families.

While it is unclear what exactly entails those tiers of security, the highest level of security is given to the president, vice president and then former presidents, the agency states.

Former presidents and their spouses have Secret Service protection for life, but the security around former presidents varies according to threat levels and exposure, with the toughest measures typically being taken in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office.

“Everybody gets a different level of security,” NewsNation’s Leland Vittert said.

This is due to cost and impact on the public, he said.

However, the Secret Service is constantly assessing threat levels, so if they feel security needs to level up they will do so and should be able to do so without the “political wing” getting involved, he added.

In Trump’s case, “the Secret Service was able to do what the Secret Service is supposed to do,” he said.

“When you have something happen within just a couple of months of each other, somehow, the systems tend to work a little bit better.”

Should Trump have gotten more protection?

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but because he is not, “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

“I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter,” Bradshaw said. “But, the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”

The Florida golf course was partially shut down for Trump as he played, but there are several areas around the perimeter of the property where golfers are visible from the fence line. Secret Service agents and officers in golf carts and on ATVs generally secure the area several holes ahead and behind Trump. Agents also usually bring an armored vehicle onto the course to shelter Trump quickly should a threat arise.

A former Secret Service agent told the BBC he believes Trump needs more protection than other former presidents because he is running for the White House again.

“We now have to reevaluate,” Barry Donadio told the outlet. “Should all these candidates get the same presidential protective package? I think that’s probably going to have to be the answer.”

In addition, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., also said Trump required “maximum protection,” the outlet reported.

Trump has had a stepped-up security footprint since the assassination attempt in July. When he is at Trump Tower in New York, parked dump trucks have formed a wall outside the building. At outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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