The Secret Service found something that sent shockwaves through the entire federal law enforcement community.
It was a discovery that nobody saw coming.
And Dan Bongino revealed one scary detail about a hunting stand near Air Force One.
FBI launches urgent investigation after hunting stand discovery near presidential aircraft
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino dropped a bombshell during his Monday morning appearance on Fox & Friends about a security incident that could have turned deadly.
Secret Service agents discovered a hunting stand with a direct line of sight to Air Force One during a routine security sweep at Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday.
The stand was found before President Donald Trump arrived for his return flight to Washington, D.C., following a weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
"The Secret Service has had to make a lot of modifications, Lawrence, given that this tool was obviously used or attempted to use multiple times," Bongino told co-host Lawrence Jones when asked about sniper concerns.¹ "They’ve expanded their security perimeter."
The timing couldn’t be more significant given recent events.
Trump survived an assassination attempt during a July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman fired from a rooftop.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wasn’t as fortunate — he was killed by a sniper firing from a rooftop during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Those attacks forced the Secret Service to completely overhaul their security protocols.
"I am very close friends with the director over there and some of those modifications have been made and I think you saw the modifications with the discovery of this hunting stand set up in a tree," Bongino explained.²
Director Kash Patel ordered immediate response to potential threat
The discovery triggered an immediate federal response that showed just how seriously authorities are taking any potential threats against the President.
FBI Director Kash Patel didn’t wait around for a full briefing — he ordered his agents into action the moment he learned about the hunting stand.
"The director, Kash Patel, was directly involved right away, I’m on the email chain with him," Bongino revealed. "He ordered an immediate response, I believe we had our plane flown down there."³
The FBI dismantled the hunting stand and flew it to the agency’s laboratory for forensic analysis.
"This hunting stand was appropriately dismantled and flown to our lab, I believe it’s there right now, and all forensic tools from digital tools to biometric tools will be applied to find out who put this up and why," Bongino said.⁴
The investigation comes on the heels of Saturday’s "No Kings" protests, where some demonstrators openly called for Trump’s death or expressed desire to kill senior administration officials and ICE agents.
Bongino explained the division of responsibility between federal agencies.
"The FBI is not responsible for, obviously, the security plan for the president. That is the purview of the Secret Service," Bongino stated. "However, if the Secret Service finds something they believe could be critical, I want to emphasize could be, we take over."⁵
The FBI and Secret Service operate under a memorandum of understanding that kicks in whenever the Secret Service discovers something potentially threatening.
"I was on the phone yesterday back and forth with the D2, Deputy Director of the Secret Service Matt Quinn, great guy," Bongino continued. "They were very concerned, their security sweep discovered this hunting stand."⁶
Enhanced security measures save the day
Look, the expanded security perimeter that came after Charlie Kirk’s assassination just proved its worth in the most dramatic way possible.
Without those modifications, Secret Service agents might never have swept far enough out to find that hunting stand before Trump’s arrival.
Since Kirk’s murder on that Utah college campus, federal law enforcement has been on edge about any elevated position that could give a shooter a clean line of sight to high-value targets.
The fact that this stand had a direct view of Air Force One means someone either put it there recently or it’s been sitting unnoticed in an area that should have been secured long ago.
Either scenario is deeply troubling.
The forensic analysis will reveal whether this was an innocent hunting stand that happened to be in the wrong place, or something far more sinister timed to Trump’s visit.
But after two assassination attempts using elevated shooting positions — one fatal, one narrowly avoided — nobody’s taking any chances anymore.
The expanded security protocols that seemed excessive to some critics after Kirk’s death just potentially saved the President’s life.
That hunting stand sitting in an FBI lab right now will tell investigators everything they need to know about who put it there and why.
¹ Harold Hutchison, "Dan Bongino Provides Details About FBI Investigation Into Hunting Stand That Had Line Of Sight To Air Force One," Daily Caller News Foundation, October 20, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
