Bedminster drafts VIP security plan after Trump assassination attempt
Federal, state and local officials convened a meeting in New Jersey Thursday focused on improving protection for "high-profile figures" and ensuring financial support to communities like Bedminster, which was not used to funding such endeavors.
State Sen. Doug Steinhardt, R-Belvidere, convened the meeting in Bedminster, where Trump owns a golf club he frequently visits. It featured officials from the township; Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J.; law enforcement; and other leaders.
Steinhardt, a former NJGOP chair who represents Trump’s club, said the assassination attempt in neighboring Pennsylvania prompted him to organize all potential stakeholders in this way.
"President Trump has been a champion for our country, and it's our duty to ensure his safety and the safety of all our leaders," Steinhardt said.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION TASK FORCE REBUFFS PARALLEL CONGRESSIONAL PROBE
"The recent attack is a stark reminder of the growing threats they face. We cannot allow our communities to bear the financial burden of these enhanced security measures alone."
Steinhardt later told Fox News Digital after the meeting that he and the other stakeholders took a "significant step in the right direction."
"[We] reaffirmed that when high-profile figures visit our towns, the financial burden of providing enhanced security shouldn’t fall on local taxpayers," Steinhardt said.
"As we move forward, I’m optimistic that we can strike the delicate balance required for Secret Service and local communities to protect leaders like President Trump during this period of heightened political unrest."
When asked about the meeting, Kean’s office cited legislation freshly drafted by the lawmaker that would authorize the Secret Service to reimburse state and local governments when their resources are used to coordinate VIP security.
The agency had come under scrutiny after the Butler incident for allegations it did not properly work with the Pennsylvania State Police and other agencies to prevent a threat like shooter Thomas Crooks.
Bedminster Mayor Larry Jacobs said in a statement he called Kean when the Secret Service requested township resources to help protect Trump’s club.
"Bedminster has always been willing to step up and answer the call to keep every resident in our town safe, and that includes the former president," Jacobs said.
The rural community, at the crossroads of interstates 78 and 287 in the middle of the state, was not used to budgeting that kind of appropriation.
"We fully appreciate the Secret Service’s request, especially in light of the July 13 assassination attempt. However, this request could easily run into six figures and is simply too much for our small town to foot," Jacobs said, calling Kean’s Presidential Security Resources Reimbursement Act the right solution.
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A Somerset County official echoed those sentiments in her own statement shared by Kean.
Particularly in the time since New York state has pursued Trump in court, the former president has appeared to frequent his Bedminster club more than his namesake tower about an hour to the east.
With that trend likely to continue, properly securing the Raritan Valley and providing the resources to local and state concerns to do so remains paramount, officials added.