Secret Service to conduct 'routine threat exercise' at White House
The U.S. Secret Service will conduct a routine threat exercise at the White House between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Friday, as President Trump is out of town for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Secret Service warned that residents could hear simulated gunfire coming from the White House and should not be alarmed. All roads will be accessible, but some sidewalks along the White House complex will be closed.
The Secret Service has a double mission to protect the president and conduct investigations on potential threats. These routine trainings are meant to keep agents ready and alert if anything happens.
The protective detail for the president has come under scrutiny since the attempts on Trump's life during last year's presidential campaign.
An assassin narrowly missed shooting Trump in the head during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., piercing Trump's ear in a shooting that killed one man attending the event. The shooter was killed.
Last month, six agents were fired due to their actions following an investigation into the assassination.
“The Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission,” the report found, according to CBS News. “The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved.”
The Secret Service has been trying to bolster security around the president, especially when he's golfing.
A second attempt was made on Trump's life during a golfing outing last year, though the man suspected in that incident, who was hiding in bushes near where Trump was golfing, did not shoot.