‘White House isn’t treating us very good’: Trump says he’s ‘always worried’ about safety during rallies as second Butler, PA event nears

The question of his personal safety and that of others in the crowd is even more pressing as he prepares to return for another rally this weekend in Butler, PA – the location where he almost lost his life to would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks. Trump made the observations while he spoke about a myriad of topics with NewsNation.

“Well, I’m always worried,” the Republican presidential candidate responded when asked if he’s concerned about what might happen as he makes a second appearance at the very site where an assassin’s bullet came within an inch of killing him. “I think that the White House isn’t treating us very good,” he said. “I get crowds that are ten times bigger than anybody else, 20 times bigger than anybody else, and we’re entitled to security.”

After a second assassination attempt, many Americans and lawmakers demanded that Trump's security detail be heightened and broadened because it failed to meet his needs. The House and Senate agreed unanimously to pass a bill bringing Trump’s USSS protection to the same level as President Joe Biden, who signed the bill Tuesday.

In the second attempt in September, a United States Secret Service (USSS) agent spotted a gun barrel poking out of a bush as Trump golfed in West Palm Beach. Suspect Ryan Routh reportedly camped out near the gold course for over 12 hours. Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe rushed to Florida after Routh’s arrest, but later admitted that the USSS had failed to search the perimeter of the golf course because a golf game was not on Trump’s “official schedule.”

“The White House makes it very difficult,” Trump said during the interview of preparing security for his mass rallies. “We had something in Wisconsin last week, we would’ve had 60,000 people, but they couldn’t provide us with the security,” he insisted.

“It’s very unfair the way we’ve been treated and we have to get better security. It’s really being led more so by the White House than anybody else.”

The former president, who would be only the second person except Grover Cleveland to be reelected in that office in a non-consecutive term if he wins in November, said he doesn’t blame the Secret Service for the gaps in service and said they’re “doing a good job … They’re only allowed to do what the white House is letting them do.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has said that the Department of Homeland Security has been “stonewalling” his subcommittee’s investigation into the assassination attempts, which questions the lack of security measures in place. Blumenthal, a senior Democrat senator, has already warned that the subcommittee’s report on the first assassination attempt will “shock” and “appall” Americans.