The United States Secret Service repeatedly encountered drone-related security incidents without updating its protection policies or recording why it chose not to, the Government Accountability Office has found, with the Secret Service drone policy failures cited as a direct backdrop to the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
The GAO report, released Thursday, found that between 2015 and 2025 the Secret Service dealt with 83 security incidents but updated its protection policies in response to only 25 of them.
Drone incidents were among those left unaddressed. One involved a drone making contact with President Barack Obama’s motorcade in 2015. Another was flown approximately 200 feet over a rally for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Secret Service drone policy left gaps before Butler shooting
Nathan Tranquilli, acting director of the GAO, said the drone incidents were a ‘compelling example’ of the agency’s failure to document its reasoning when declining to update policy.
‘Some of the missing information has been relevant to subsequent attacks,’ the report stated.
It pointed to the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting, where the would-be assassin flew a drone for 11 minutes over the crowd to help locate a position from which to fire at Trump. The shooter, using a roof left unsecured by the Secret Service, struck Trump in the ear.
The GAO also found that the Secret Service failed to update eight of 22 protection policies within a required four-year timeframe.
A memorandum of understanding between the Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service, which sets out each agency’s responsibilities for the president’s overseas security, has not been updated since 1991, despite an annual review being required. As a result, the memorandum makes no reference to drone threats.
Three recommendations put to the agency
Tranquilli described the Secret Service’s work as ‘a zero fail mission’ burdened by considerable pressures.
‘When decisions were being made about where to put time and energy, some of these things fell to the side, and, as a result, there were some delays,’ he said.
The report set out three recommended fixes. Chief among them: the Secret Service should be required to document its rationale whenever a security incident does not lead to a policy update.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, agreed with all three recommendations and said it plans to implement changes, according to the report. A Secret Service spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The findings arrive after a turbulent period for the agency. Months after Butler, a man with a rifle got close to Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course. In April, an armed man breached security barriers at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where the president was present.
