There’s an added wrinkle to the dangerous development we reported on Thursday as former President Donald Trump prepared to give a press conference at the Southern border in Cochise County, Arizona. Moments before the former president spoke, we learned that there was a manhunt underway for an individual who’d threatened to assassinate him.
Thankfully, the man who’d issued the threats, Ronald Lee Syrvud, was subsequently taken into custody without further incident, and no harm came to Trump or anyone else in attendance.
BREAKING: Cochise County Sheriff Searching for Man Who Threatened to Assassinate Trump in AZ Today
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But it appears that Trump wasn’t advised of the specific threat prior to the press conference. Toward the end of the conference, after Trump and several family members of victims killed by illegal aliens addressed the cameras, Trump took questions from the media. The last question asked was about the threat and his knowledge of it. Watch:
REPORTER: Today there was a manhunt going on in this county. Somebody made death threats to you. Did you hear about that before coming? What are your thoughts?
TRUMP: I’ve heard it’s dangerous but I also have a job to do. I heard it’s very dangerous, I haven’t heard about that. They probably want to keep it from me. Thank you for telling me. Let’s get out of here right now. No, thank you very much for saying. But, no, and I have great respect for secret service. The job they do, including a month and a half ago, when they were jumping on top of me with bullets flying right at them. So, mistakes were made and they’re gonna learn from their mistakes. But I have great respect. But no, I haven’t heard that, but I’m not that surprised. And the reason is because I want to do things that are very bad for the bad guys. So, I have heard it’s very unsafe to make this trip. There were some people that really didn’t want me to make it.
Later, Trump spoke with NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley, and acknowledged the threat, indicating that he’d really just learned of it and that they needed to cut things short due to the danger.
‘We’re in danger’: Donald Trump rushed away by Secret Service during interview with NewsNation’s @AliBradleytv. Bradley reports daily from the southern border, where Trump held a news conference earlier Thursday.
More: https://t.co/FauTAGqWLW pic.twitter.com/lHqSBptfHS
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) August 22, 2024
Trump abruptly ended an exclusive interview with NewsNation on Thursday when his security detail alerted the former president and Republican nominee for president that he would not be safe continuing the interview.
“Can I tell you something? We’re in danger standing here talking,” Trump said during an interview with NewsNation’s Ali Bradley at the U.S. southern border. “So let’s not talk any longer.
“(Security) doesn’t want me standing here. They don’t want you standing here either.”
Watching the press conference, I’d initially assumed that Trump was in the loop regarding the manhunt and had assessed the situation and felt comfortable proceeding. Given all that’s come to light recently in terms of Secret Service failures, it’s a bit concerning to know while we were reporting on the threat and manhunt, Trump himself was apparently kept in the dark. Perhaps there’s a reasonable explanation for that. I’m not holding my breath.
