New Delhi: A day after an armed intruder was gunned down in his Florida home, US President Donald Trump responded sharply to the incident, stating: “I don’t know how long I’ll be around.”
‘They only go after consequential presidents’
Trump said: “I’ve got a lot of people gunning for me, don’t I? But I’ll not forget them. I’m never gonna forget them.”
The 79-year-old said: “You read about all these crazy shooters, but they only go after consequential presidents. They don’t go after non-consequential presidents.”
He spoke about two assassinated Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy, as examples. “They were consequential. They only go after consequential. So maybe I want to be a little bit less consequential. Can we hold it back a little bit? Can we just, like, nice and easy? Could this be a normal president for a little while?”
Trump: “I don’t know how long I’ll be around. I’ve got a lot of people gunning for me, don’t I?” pic.twitter.com/Boq5pxHxav
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 23, 2026
What exactly happened
The intruder was a man in his early 20s. He illegally breached the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago while carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. Trump was not at the estate at the time of the intrusion.
In a post on X, a US Secret Service spokesperson confirmed the shooting. The spokesperson said, “An armed man was shot and killed by US Secret Service agents after unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early this morning.”
The US Secret Service said that no personnel were injured during the shooting. The FBI, Secret Service, and local authorities are probing the intruder’s background and potential aim.
Previous threats
Trump is no stranger to threats. Some time back in February, Ryan Routh, 59, who conspired to kill Trump at a Florida golf course in September 2024, was sentenced to life in prison.
Trump was fired and wounded on July 13, 2024, while he was speaking during a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, the shooter, fired several rounds from a nearby roof at the stage. One bullet grazed past Trump’s upper right ear. Security forces immediately shot dead Crooks.
Reacting to the Butler attack a year later, Trump said: “It remains my firm conviction that God alone saved me that day for a righteous purpose: to restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin.”