(CNN) \u2014 An armed man was arrested outside Trump National Golf Club in Southern California on Sunday after federal agents reported someone suspicious walking the property just days before a visit by the president, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The Secret Service is investigating whether the person, who was caught with ammunition and a public telephone number for the White House while apparently taking pictures and videos of the federal agents\u2019 security-planning activities, posed a threat to President Donald Trump, a federal law enforcement source told CNN.<\/p>\n
At his home, investigators later recovered what they described as an illegally modified AR-style rifle, body armor, high-capacity magazines and notebooks containing what the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department called \u201cconcerning statements,\u201d among other items. The Secret Service would not comment on specifics.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate indication the person \u2013 identified by sheriff\u2019s deputies as Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey \u2013 was plotting an attack on the president, the source added, noting the investigation was ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump\u2019s life, and the FBI\u2019s Joint Terrorism Task Force \u2026 will investigate this case thoroughly,\u201d FBI Assistant Director Patrick Grandy said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Taele\u2019s arrest follows other security incidents involving Trump properties and events, including breaches at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, assassination attempts in 2024 at a Pennsylvania campaign rally and on the edge of his West Palm Beach golf course in Florida, and a man opening fire at this year\u2019s White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
Trump was aboard Air Force 1 en route to a Tuesday evening Republican National Committee dinner at the golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes when the sheriff\u2019s office announced Taele\u2019s arrest on charges of carrying a concealed firearm and possession of prohibited ammunition.<\/p>\n
Taele pleaded not guilty Tuesday to four charges: three weapons charges filed after his arrest at Trump National Golf Club and a second-degree robbery charge stemming from an alleged November 2025 incident, the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office said. It is not clear whether the robbery charge is related to Sunday\u2019s incident.<\/p>\n
A judge set bail at $250,000 and ordered Taele not to possess weapons, to stay away from the president\u2019s golf club and to remain in California pending further proceedings, court documents show.<\/p>\n
Taele also was charged Tuesday in a federal criminal complaint with possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, the US Attorney\u2019s Office for the Central District of California said. The felony carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not yet determined when Taele will make his initial appearance in federal court, the US Attorney\u2019s Office told CNN on Wednesday. That was earlier expected to happen Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Body armor, AR-style rifle found at suspect\u2019s home, sheriff says<\/p>\n
Detectives assigned to the FBI\u2019s Joint Terrorism Task Force executed a search warrant for Taele\u2019s residence Monday due to the \u201cpotential security implications surrounding the incident,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s department said.<\/p>\n
Investigators found what they described as an illegally modified AR-style rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, radio signal devices, an earpiece, a gold-colored badge that said \u201cBadge #1015, Agent-Fugitive Recovery Bail Enforcement,\u201d and notebooks containing what sheriff\u2019s officials called \u201cconcerning statements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal agents during a Friday security assessment saw a suspicious person, later identified as Taele, the Justice Department said. He was seen walking throughout the golf course, wearing an earpiece and taking photographs and videos of federal agents\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n
He left the area and returned Sunday, approaching federal agents and stating he was employed by the State Department and was there for a security detail. Taele said he had a loaded firearm in his car, which was later searched, federal officials said.<\/p>\n
Federal agents contacted the sheriff\u2019s department, whose deputies in a pat-down search of Taele found a 16-round magazine containing hollow point ammunition in his pants pockets. In his car, they found a pair of binoculars and a badge that read \u201csecurity protection agent.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the grounds of Trump\u2019s club on Sunday, Taele was taking photos and videos, and he appeared to be monitoring \u201csecurity-planning activities,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s department said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the President\u2019s visit,\u201d said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. \u201cFederal and local law enforcement stepped in early and prevented what could have been a dangerous situation from occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FBI\u2019s Joint Terrorism Task Force and Secret Service are aiding in the investigation, officials said, and more charges could be added.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, investigators have identified no credible threat to our communities,\u201d the statement said. \u201cHowever, this case underscores the importance of vigilance, strong partnerships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and the proactive steps taken to identify and investigate suspicious activity before it can escalate.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story has been updated with additional information.<\/p>\n
The-CNN-Wire<\/p>\n
\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(CNN) \u2014 An armed man was arrested outside Trump National Golf Club in Southern California on Sunday after…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[165,166,1191,55,1898],"class_list":["post-14549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-golf","tag-national","tag-news","tag-top-stories","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117429660772617910","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}