1 of 3 | A suspicious tree stand was found near the Palm Beach airport with a direct line of sight to Air Force One. File Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo
The U.S. Secret Service found a hunting stand in a tree near Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport with a direct line of sight to Air Force One, federal law enforcement officials said.
The FBI is leading the investigation into a tree stand found in an area where President Donald Trump’s government plane was parked, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement to NBC News.
The Palm Beach airport is the closest major airport — less than 5 miles — to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. He traveled there for the weekend.
“The U.S. Secret Service is working closely with the FBI and our law enforcement partners in Palm Beach County. During advance security preparations prior to the Palm Beach arrival, which included the use of technology and comprehensive physical sweeps, our teams identified items of interest near Palm Beach International Airport,” the statement said.
“There was no impact to any movements, and no individuals were present or involved at the location.”
Agents haven’t connected the stand to any one person, FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Prior to the president’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone,” Patel told Fox News Digital. “No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cell phone analytics capabilities.”
A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital, which first reported this story, that the stand appeared to have been set up “months ago.”
A senior official familiar with the investigation told NBC News that the stand was across the street from the airport. The area within the line of sight is where private planes often park. Air Force One doesn’t usually park in that part of the airport, but was there because of some construction at the airport. It has parked there in the past, the official said.
Trump has faced two assasination attempts. In July 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, shot at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear and another shot and killed Corey Comperatore, a firefighter attending the rally. Crooks was killed by law enforcement.
In September 2024, Ryan Routh was caught in Florida with a gun aimed at Trump while he played golf. Routh was convicted in September of attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
