Inside The Assassination Attempts Against Donald Trump
Story by William Kennedy • 8h ago
Being a world leader is dangerous business. Surprisingly, in more than two centuries, only four American presidents have been killed while in office, beginning with the shooting death of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. In office from 2016 through 2020, the 45th U.S. Commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, clearly survived his time in the White House. There were several attempts on his life, though, including three during his administration and two while a presidential candidate (although one turned out to be a false alarm). Perhaps unsurprisingly, "The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021" claims that Trump was worried about attacks on his life, despite his public persona suggesting otherwise. "At a cocktail party, Trump told several of his Florida friends he was afraid Iran would try to assassinate him, so he had to go back to Washington where he would be safer," the book reads.
Though none of the reported assassination attempts on Trump's life were successful, it proves that the job of U.S. president is still risky, despite modern security measures and 24-hour Secret Service protection. The most recent attempt on then-President Trump's life, in fact, came in 2020. And after only one year in office, there was already at least one attempt on the life of Trump's successor, Joe Biden (per AL.com).
Notably, only two of the five reported threats on Trump's life involved a gun. In keeping with Trump's unconventional approach to the presidency, one would-be assassination made an attempt on his life with perhaps the most unusual weapon used to threaten a commander-in-chief in U.S. history: a forklift, as The Atlanta-Journal Constitution explains.
Both Attempts On Trump The Candidate Happened In Nevada
Before that forklift incident, though, there were two reported attempts on Donald Trump's life with a firearm while the 45th U.S. president was still a candidate. One turned out to be fake, while the other proved much more serious. The first time Trump's life was threatened, he was still the presumptive GOP nominee for The White House. At a 2016 campaign rally in Las Vegas, British national Michael Steven Sandford tried to snatch a firearm from a police officer. He later said he intended to shoot and kill Trump and expected by doing so, he, too, would be shot and killed by law enforcement, The New York Times reports. Sandford was apprehended and rushed from the scene. He later pleaded guilty on three charges and was sentenced to one year in prison in the U.S. before returning to the U.K., the AP writes.
Another potential assassination attempt against Trump came while he was still running for office, and it also happened in Nevada. At a Reno campaign event, Austyn Crites, who was politically opposed to Trump, attended a Trump rally when someone yelled "gun" in what turned out to be a gun scare.
At that time, Trump was rushed from the stage, only to return a short time later. Crites was apprehended, The Washington Post reports. After questioning, Crites was found to be unarmed and released, according to CNN.
Three Attempts Were Made Against Trump While In Office
The final three assassination attempts against Trump happened during his presidency, and each one turned out to be an actual threat. All three were tried with unconventional weapons. First, a forklift: In 2018, Gregory Lee Leingang of North Dakota pleaded guilty to planning to flip Trump's limousine with a stolen forklift during a presidential visit to North Dakota one year earlier, the AP reports. The forklift got stuck, and Leingang fled the scene on foot. He was later sentenced to five years in prison for the crime (via Grand Forks Herald), with additional time served for unrelated offenses (per InForum).
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