A day after an armed intruder was shot dead while breaching the security perimeter of the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US President Donald Trump said he was unsure how long he would be around.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be around,” Trump said. “I have a lot of people gunning for me, don’t I?”
The remarks marked his first response since a gun-wielding intruder was shot dead by US Secret Service agents after breaching the perimeter of his Florida property.
TRUMP REFLECTS ON THREATS
The US President, who survived two separate assassination attempts during the 2024 election campaign, mixed humour with pointed self-comparison. He said that threats come with being what he described as a consequential leader.
“You read about all these crazy shooters, but they only go after consequential presidents,” Trump said. “They don’t go after non-consequential presidents.”
He invoked two assassinated Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, as examples.
“They were consequential,” Trump said. “They only go after consequential. So maybe I want to be a little bit less consequential. Can we hold it back a little bit?”
At one point, Trump appeared to reconsider his own stance.
“Let’s be a normal president for a little while,” he said, half-jokingly.
SUSPECT IDENTIFIED IN SECURITY BREACH
Authorities identified the intruder as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina. US Secret Service agents said Martin drove through the north gate of the Palm Beach estate at about 1:30 am (local time). He was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy. Authorities said he was carrying a shotgun and a petrol canister.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said officers ordered him to drop the items. “He put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said. The agents and deputy then “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Martin had been reported missing by his family days earlier. Investigators believe he travelled from North Carolina to Florida and obtained the shotgun along the way. A firearm box was later recovered from his vehicle, officials said. Trump was not at the site at the time.
With inputs from agencies
