Former President Trump thanked Congress after the Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to strengthen his Secret Service protection following two assassination attempts, and warned of a major threat to his life from Iran.
“Iran poses a serious threat to my life. The entire U.S. military is watching and standing by,” Trump said. I wrote in the post He said on his platform, Truth Social: “Iran has already done something that didn't work, and they will try again. It's not a good situation for anyone.”
The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday night, bringing President Trump one step closer to increased security less than two weeks after his second assassination attempt.
The bill was originally introduced by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) days after Trump's first assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. If passed, the bill would require the Secret Service to “apply the same standards” to calculate the number of agents protecting the president, vice president, and anyone running for office that is granted such protection.
The bill passed the House without opposition last week and now heads to President Biden's desk.
The added pressure comes after a second assassination attempt took place earlier this month at Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, during which Secret Service agents opened fire on a man holding a rifle around the golf course.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, now faces a total of five charges, according to the indictment. Announced on Tuesday It marks a significant escalation in the case and comes after prosecutors revealed that Routh had written a letter months earlier detailing his plans.
This follows an initial threat in which a gunman opened fire at a Republican candidate's rally in Pennsylvania, grazing the candidate's ear with a bullet, killing the gunman and one rally-goer and wounding two others.
In his post, Trump said he was surrounded by “more men, more guns and more security” than he had ever seen.
“Thank you Congress for unanimously approving a significant budget for the Secret Service. Zero votes against and completely bipartisan. Great to see Republicans and Democrats united on something,” he wrote. “An attack on a former President is a death wish for the attacker!”
Trump's post came after he told a news conference on Tuesday that Iran had made “real, specific threats” of assassination. Iran, seeking retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, has also hacked Trump's campaign.
Two threats against the former president's life were made by American citizens.
