&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Donald Trump compares himself to Lincoln and Kennedy, jokes not sure how long he will \"be around\"")
US President Donald Trump on Monday reflected on the repeated life threats against him. While speaking at an Angel Families event on Monday, he called himself a “consequential President” and said he is not sure how long he will be around, "a lot of people are gunning for me". This was Trump's first public remark after US Secret Service agents neutralised a gunman in Trump's private club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
“You read about all these crazy shooters, but they only go after consequential presidents,” he said. “They don’t go after non-consequential presidents.” He further compared himself to the previous Presidents who were assassinated, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. “They were consequential…They only go after consequential. So maybe I want to be a little bit less consequential.”
The Mar-a-Lago shooting took place early Sunday, when a man identified as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was attempting to enter Trump's private property carrying a firearm and a gas can. A US Secret Service agent confronted him, asked him drop his weapons. He allegedly refused to drop his weapon and was shot by the US Secret Service agents. The FBI is investigating the event; no motive has been disclosed till now. Trump was not present at Mar-a-Lago; he was in Washington hosting a governor's dinner at the White House.
Trump had two attempts on his life. First one at a rally in Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired multiple shots at Trump, one shot grazed past his ear. He was neutralised by the US Secret Service agents. The second one was on September 15, 2024, in Palm Beach, when he was golfing in Mar-a-Lago, agents spotted a rifle pointing at Trump through the fence. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, fled from the scene and was later arrested and sentenced to a life sentence.
