Armed man arrested near Trump golf course before visit

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested an armed man seen photographing and filming Donald Trump’s golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, days before the president was scheduled to visit the Los Angeles-area property for a Republican event, authorities said.

The man, identified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele, was detained Sunday at Trump National Golf Club after plainclothes federal agents reported him as a “suspicious individual,” county officials said. Authorities said the agents had observed Taele taking photos and videos of the golf grounds in the coastal city south of Los Angeles.

Al Jazeera reported that the sheriff’s department said Taele appeared to be monitoring security preparations ahead of Trump’s scheduled appearance at a Republican Party fundraising dinner on Tuesday. The Guardian reported that Trump was expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening for an event with the Republican National Committee.

After deputies detained Taele, investigators found a loaded magazine in his pocket and a loaded pistol in his car, officials said. Al Jazeera, citing local authorities, reported that the magazine in his pocket held 16 rounds, and that deputies later recovered a loaded pistol with a round chambered, along with a second loaded magazine, from his vehicle in the golf course parking lot.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for Taele’s home in Downey, citing “the potential security implications.” During the search, law enforcement officers recovered multiple weapons and related items, including a.45-caliber pistol, body armor and an illegally modified AR-type pistol, officials said. Al Jazeera reported that detectives working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force searched the home Monday and found an illegally modified rifle, a second pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition, radio signal devices and notebooks containing what officials described only as “concerning statements.” The nature of the statements has not been disclosed.

Taele was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm and possession of prohibited ammunition, according to officials cited by The Guardian. Investigators have presented the case to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which will determine whether charges will be filed. Al Jazeera reported that Taele was being held without bail while prosecutors considered charges, and that he had already been under investigation by the El Segundo Police Department in a separate robbery case.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that it had identified no credible threat to its communities.

Trump’s planned visit to California comes after several past security incidents involving the president. In April, Cole Tomas Allen, a California man with alleged grievances against the Trump administration, sprinted through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner while Trump was attending, according to The Guardian. He was apprehended by Secret Service agents and charged with attempting to assassinate a U.S. president. He has pleaded not guilty.

In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally where Trump was speaking as a presidential nominee, killing one audience member and grazing Trump’s ear with a bullet. Federal agents fatally shot the suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, and the FBI later found no clear motive, The Guardian reported.

Ryan Routh was recently sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of attempting to assassinate Trump at a Florida golf course in September 2024. Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as Trump played golf at his West Palm Beach country club.