Armed man arrested at Trump's Los Angeles golf club two days before presidential visit

An armed man was arrested at President Donald Trump's golf course in the Los Angeles area two days before the president's visit on Tuesday, the local sheriff's office said. The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele of nearby Downey, California.

Taele was detained on Sunday afternoon at the course in Rancho Palos Verdes. Plainclothes federal agents spotted him "walking throughout the golf course grounds taking photographs and videos and appearing to monitor security-planning activities," according to the sheriff's statement.

Trump arrived by helicopter at the golf club on Tuesday evening to attend a fundraising dinner hosted by the Republican National Committee. The visit was closed to the press.

Weapons recovered

During the detention, deputies found a 16-round magazine containing hollow-point ammunition in the suspect's pants pocket. A search of his vehicle turned up a loaded pistol and a second loaded magazine with hollow-point ammunition. Local reports said he admitted to having a loaded firearm in his car.

Sheriff's investigators and agents from the FBI's counterterrorism unit later searched Taele's home. They reported finding an assault-style rifle, a pistol, a bulletproof vest, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, two radios and "multiple notebooks containing concerning statements."

According to local media, Taele was held on suspicion of carrying a concealed firearm and possessing armor-piercing or otherwise prohibited ammunition. He was also ordered not to possess any weapons and to stay away from the golf course. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will decide whether to file charges after investigators presented the case on Tuesday morning.

A pattern of threats

Butler rally shooting

Trump has been the target of several assassination attempts since launching his latest presidential campaign. In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing an audience member and lightly wounding the then-candidate in the ear. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots from a rooftop before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. The attendee who died was former fire chief Corey Comperatore, and two other attendees were wounded in addition to Trump. A Senate committee report in July 2025 described a "cascade of preventable failures" by the Secret Service. A 2026 report by the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General found that the agency missed 102 radio transmissions from local authorities about a suspicious person before the shooting, and that its counter-drone system was inoperable at the time.

West Palm Beach golf course

A few months later, on September 15, 2024, a man was arrested at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel in shrubbery along the perimeter. That man, Ryan Routh, was found guilty on five federal counts in September 2025, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. Judge Aileen Cannon sentenced him on February 4, 2026, to life in prison, plus a mandatory seven years for a firearm offence.

White House Correspondents' Dinner

In April, Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington after an armed man charged a security checkpoint outside the ballroom, triggering an exchange of gunfire with security personnel. The accused, 31-year-old Cole Allen of California, was indicted on four counts: attempting to kill the president, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm during an act of violence, and transporting a firearm across state lines. He pleaded not guilty on May 11. His lawyers have sought to disqualify the Washington US Attorney's office, including Jeanine Pirro, arguing that officials who attended the dinner could be victims or witnesses.

Fundraising visit to a Democratic stronghold

At the dinner, the president was expected to promote his record and raise campaign funds for the upcoming midterm elections, in which the Republican Party is trying to keep its hold on the US Congress. Trump's visits to California, a Democratic stronghold he has long cast as the opposite of his vision for America, are rare.

Hours before Trump arrived, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat widely expected to seek the presidency in 2028, urged him to release long-delayed federal reconstruction funding for communities devastated by the Los Angeles wildfires. Newsom said the issue should transcend politics and that Trump should honor his pledge to help affected families.

The January 2025 fires destroyed roughly 16,000 structures, and economic losses were estimated to exceed $250 billion. In February 2025, Newsom asked Congress for about $39.7 billion in federal aid, including $16.8 billion through FEMA and $5 billion for debris cleanup.