A golfing partner of Donald Trump described the dramatic moment he heard gunshots and saw Secret Service agents dive on top of the former president during the suspected assassination attempt at his Florida golf course on Sunday.
Businessman Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump friend and political donor, told NBC News on Tuesday that he knew immediately the loud “pops” were gunfire. He praised the Secret Service for their quick response in getting Trump off the golf course within 20 seconds.
A suspect, Ryan Routh, was charged Monday night with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Routh hid in bushes for up to 12 hours and pointed a semi-automatic weapon at Trump from about a quarter mile away, authorities said.
Trump had “a guy following right behind him, but he also had people sitting next to him. The whole team converged on him, except for the snipers,” Witkoff told NBC’s “TODAY” show.
“The snipers split up and came within three meters of me, set up the tripods and aimed exactly where the shots were coming from.”
Trump then checked to make sure everyone present was OK, Witkoff said, including other friends who were on the job and the Secret Service agents.
Pressure on the Secret Service has been mounting again following Sunday’s incident, just over two months after a gunman opened fire on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania. Witkoff said Trump has confidence in the Secret Service and “respects them tremendously.”
But he added: “Does he think it’s possible that mistakes could have been made along the way? Well, I mean, yes, mistakes could have been made, and in this case lives could have been lost because of something like that, because of a mistake.”
Witkoff said he wasn’t sure Trump would stop playing golf after Sunday’s arrest. “He’s a tough guy to keep down. You know, golf is a great sport for him. He slows down on the golf course. It’s a happy place for him,” he said.
And he said Trump had no obligation to tone down his fiery language in light of the apparent second attempt on his life in the past 10 weeks. Trump on Monday accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of using language that led to the two assassination attempts on him. The pair had “taken politics in our country to a whole new level of hate,” Trump said.
“I mean, he thinks her political beliefs are way to the left. He thinks that reminds him of Marxist ideology,” Witkoff said.
“He’s just telling the American public what he thinks about people who believe in much, much bigger government, big taxes, the Green New Deal, DEI, and all these other things.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
