Secret Service agents find hunting stand near Donald Trump’s Air Force One in Palm Beach County

The FBI and U.S. Secret Service (USSS) are investigating the discovery of a hunting stand near President Donald Trump’s Air Force One airplane exits at the Palm Beach International Airport, according to a breaking Sunday report by Fox News Digital^[1].

The online news outlet is reporting the stand was actually discovered Thursday and the investigation is now being handled by the FBI. According to the Fox report, FBI Director Kash Patel that the stand has not been traced to any one individual.

“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 photo provided by the Secret Service to Fox News shows a hunting stand perched among branches in atree elevated well above ground level.

Secret Service officials say they are in close contact with the FBI and Palm Beach County law enforcement personnel as the investigation progresses. Secret Service agents discovered the hunting stand in a wooded area near the airport in a sweep of the area prior to Trump’s return to Palm Beach County Thursday.

Other indications in the Fox report show that the hunting stand could have been set up months ago.

Palm Beach County is the site of an attempted assassination plot in 2024. Ryan Routh was convicted in September^[2] of plotting an attempted assassination of Trump at his Mar-a-Lago gulf course on September 15, 2024, as then-presidential-candidate Trump was playing golf.

Routh is set for sentencing in that case in December.

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Material from The Associated Press was used in this report with permission.