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Former president Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI is investigating as an apparent assassination attempt against him in Florida.
The agency said in a statement on Sunday that it “has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former president Trump”.
The US Secret Service earlier on Sunday had said Trump was safe after what the candidate’s campaign described as “gunshots in his vicinity”.
“The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating a protective incident involving former president Donald Trump that occurred shortly before 2pm,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service’s communications chief, said in a post on X on Sunday.
“The former president is safe.”
Trump was injured in an attempted assassination at an election rally in Pennsylvania in July.
The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign declined to give further details after putting out a statement saying that Trump was “safe following gunshots in his vicinity”.
It later released a second statement in which Trump said: “FEAR NOT! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!”
The sheriff’s office in Martin county, north of Palm Beach, said in a Facebook post that police stopped a vehicle and took a suspect into custody who was “believed to be connected” to the shooting incident. They did not provide further information.
Trump’s Democratic opponent, vice-president Kamala Harris, posted on X: “I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
The White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden and the vice-president “have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
This is a developing story.