MIAMI — Former President Donald Trump is “safe and unharmed” after Secret Service agents engaged with a suspect pointing a high-powered rifle at the Florida golf course where Trump was golfing Sunday afternoon, officials say. They said the suspect fled but was later taken into custody.
The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, said in a brief initial statement.
The law enforcement officials confirmed that U.S. Secret Service members opened fire after the armed suspect was spotted by a member of Trump’s Secret Service team, two holes ahead from where the president was golfing, on the edge of the course, multiple law enforcement officials told CBS News.
Florida Republicans and Democrats shared their reactions to the incident, saying that they’re relieved that Trump is safe.
Republican Party
Senator Rick Scott shared on X that he and his wife Ann were “grateful” for the law enforcement agencies that responded to the incident.
“Thank God that President [Donald Trump] is safe,” he stated.
The Republican Party of Florida asked for prayers for Trump as the investigation continues.
“This madness has to stop!” the organization shared on X.
Florida GOP Chair Evan Power reposted the party’s comments.
Democratic Party
U.S. Senate candidate and former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell said there is “no place” for violence of any kind when the report came out Sunday.
“Gun violence, and political violence, have no place in our society,” she said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava shared the same sentiment as Mucarsel-Powell, saying that she was “horrified” to learn that the former president was the victim of an attempted attack.
“Violence of this kind goes against everything we stand for as Americans,” she said on X.
