Vance Reveals What Trump Told Him After Second Failed Attempt On His Life

JD Vance shared details of a phone call with Donald Trump that occurred shortly after a second assassination attempt on the former president on Sunday.

“He says, ‘JD, you’re not going to believe this, but they tried to do it again,’” Vance recalled Trump saying during the call, which happened about 10 minutes after Secret Service agents spotted the barrel of an AK-47-style rifle sticking out of a hedgerow at Trump’s international golf course in Palm Beach, where Trump had been golfing.

Vance, who was at home in Cincinnati with his children, picked up the call from Trump. He shared this story with a crowd at the Faith and Freedom Coalition event in Georgia.

“I said, ‘No, you’re kidding me. But what’s going on, sir?’” Vance recounted, according to the New York Post.

Trump explained that the gunman, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh from Hawaii, had been behind the second assassination attempt, just two months after the first.

“I was playing golf, and the Secret Service found somebody who was trying to shoot me,” Vance said Trump told him. “I said, ‘Oh my Lord, sir, I’m so glad you’re okay,’” Vance responded.

Trump, according to Vance, expressed relief that the plot was foiled but was frustrated that he couldn’t complete his birdie putt.

Secret Service agents stationed ahead of Trump’s location spotted the gunman aiming through the golf course’s chain-link fence around 2 p.m. They quickly engaged the suspect, prompting him to flee.

Routh, 58, was reportedly positioned between 300 and 500 yards away from Trump but did not fire his weapon before being confronted by agents. He fled the scene by car and was apprehended after a 40-mile pursuit on I-95, as reported by The Post.

This incident follows a previous assassination attempt in July, during which Trump narrowly avoided injury when a bullet grazed his ear at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. That attack ended with the fatal shooting of the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, and tragically resulted in one attendee’s death, with two others seriously injured.

Following this second attempt, Secret Service veteran and political commentator Dan Bongino raised concerns about the possibility of a “mole” within the Secret Service or Department of Homeland Security.

“I have to ask a really troubling question that I would have thought was crazy to even consider 10 years ago,” Bongino said, pausing before adding, “Is there a mole inside the DHS or Secret Service?”

Bongino pointed to past incidents of foreign nationals attempting to infiltrate federal agencies, including one case where two individuals were convicted of impersonating federal agents and fooling the Secret Service.

“What happened yesterday is what we call an OTR (off-the-record movement) in Secret Service jargon,” Bongino explained, referring to Trump’s unscheduled golf outing. “Very few people have access to that information.”

Bongino found it suspicious that Trump’s decision to golf was made at the last minute. “When the decision was made, probably less than 10 people knew about it. So, how did this guy know where to set up?”

He also noted that Routh, originally from North Carolina but currently living in Hawaii, was unfamiliar with the area. Bongino questioned how Routh knew where to position himself, suggesting the possibility of a mole.

“The mole may not be a foreign national,” Bongino clarified, warning against imagining a "Jason Bourne" scenario. “But there could be a ‘honeypot trap’ going on within the Secret Service—someone having a relationship with a person who isn’t who they claim to be.”

He continued, “The Iranians have been using similar tactics in Israel and elsewhere, and they’ve made it clear they want to target Trump. Could there be someone inside the Secret Service or DHS who is compromised?”

WATCH: