U.S. President Donald Trump has survived three assassination attempts as well as an array of assassination plots, including a reported Iranian government plot that was thwarted by the use of a decoy plane in Turkey. According to former CIA official Joe Zacks, these assassination attempts are doing a lot to fuel a major recruitment surge at the U.S. Secret Service — and the recruits aren’t necessarily Trump supporters.
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Writing for the UK-based i Paper, Zacks (who served as deputy assistant director for counterterrorism at the CIA) argues that attempts on Trump’s life are playing a prominent role in Secret Service recruitment. The recruits, according to Zacks, don’t necessarily favor Trump or his policies — the very fact that a U.S. president is being targeted repeatedly is enough to inspire them to join.
“Money, incentives and structural changes alone are not necessarily breathing new life into the Secret Service…. A patriotic spirit among the numerous applicants and new recruits is almost certainly making a difference,” Zacks says in the i Paper. “Regardless of party, Americans do not like to see their political leaders targeted. It angers them and quite likely drives them to join outfits like the Secret Service.”
Zacks points out that the Secret Service hired “824 trainees in the first seven months of 2026, surpassing the 786 hires in all of 2025.” And “patriotism,” according to the former CIA official, is motivating the recruits whatever their political leanings.
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“My personal experience in leading men and women in the US Army and CIA is that patriotism and selfless service to their nation is a driving force behind both personnel recruitment and retention,” Zacks explains. “Serving the greater cause of protecting America at home and abroad is an enduring organizational ethos. A revived Secret Service assuredly subscribes to these core beliefs and this is a good news story because it will keep the nation and its democratically elected leaders safe. Nevertheless, as we applaud the Secret Service’s ability to attract talented Americans to fill and expand its ranks, we must devote even greater energy to reducing what appears to be a growing proclivity to resort to violence against political leaders.”
Zacks adds, however, that Americans not only need to protect their political leaders —they also need to have a serious conversation about political violence.
“We must lower the temperature of political discourse and address the deepening polarization of American society and mainstreaming of fringe ideas,” Zacks argues. “This includes tackling the misinformation and disinformation that is amplified by social media algorithms. We need to find ways to identify and combat growing online self-radicalization. We need to counter the loneliness and social isolation experienced by many younger Americans. Finally, we need to hold politicians accountable for failing to condemn violence and violent rhetoric from their own side.”
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