Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, prior to the assassination. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Kirk, 31, died after he was shot in the neck during his "American Comeback Tour" at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. The assassination comes a year after two attempts to take the president’s life.
Twenty-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump from a rooftop during a campaign rally in July 2024, and one of the eight bullets shot grazed Trump's ear. The gunman also shot and killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, father and husband attending the rally, and injured two others.
Likewise, Ryan Routh was apprehended and charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September 2024. Routh was charged with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, among other things, and his trial kicked off on Thursday.
COULD BUTLER HAPPEN AGAIN? FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENTS WEIGH IN ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN 2025
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Aug. 1, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Miller has previously described the attack in Butler to Fox News Digital as a "wake-up call" for Secret Service, and noted that the incident served as the impetus for reform within the agency.
A bipartisan House task force that investigated the attack found that the attempted assassination was "preventable," and concluded multiple mistakes were not isolated incidents.
Former Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe told lawmakers in December 2024 that immediate changes to the agency following Butler, Pennsylvania, included expanding the use of drones for surveillance purposes, and also incorporating greater counter-drone technology to mitigate kinetic attacks from other drones.
The agency also overhauled its radio communications networks and interoperability of those networks with Secret Service personnel, and state and local law enforcement officers, Rowe said.
A Secret Service vehicle near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Although Miller said the Secret Service is working hard to implement changes, he said he worries it might not be fast enough to keep up with threats the president faces. Additionally, he said that in light of Kirk’s assassination and the attempts against Trump last year, there is additional pressure on the agency to sharpen its skills.
"After yesterday, I am sure every Secret Service agent recognizes that every day that they go to work could be the day," Miller said.
The Secret Service extended its condolences to the Kirk family, but declined to comment on any specific changes to Trump’s security detail.
"President Trump receives the highest levels of U.S. Secret Service protection and the agency adjusts our protective posture as needed to mitigate evolving threats," a Secret Service spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday. "Out of concern for operational security, we cannot discuss the means and methods used for our protective operations."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/secret-service-under-pressure-what-kirks-assassination-means-trumps-security