President-elect Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality as well as people who have served on his US Secret Service detail to run the US Secret Service, sources familiar with his thinking tell CNN.
The bombastic podcaster Dan Bongino — a former Secret Service agent who was highly critical of the agency’s leadership as security failures around the alleged assassination attempts on Trump became clear — is being considered for the job.
Bongino spent more than a decade in the Secret Service and individuals who worked with him praised him as a stellar agent and one of the best with whom they had worked. In a podcast last week, Bongino said he hadn’t had any formal conversations about the position.
The former head of Trump’s detail Robert Engel is also among names that could be picked for Secret Service director. Engel was with Trump on January 6, 2021, and testified to the House select committee about the former president’s speech at the Ellipse that preceded the US Capitol attack.
The head of Trump’s current detail Sean Curran is also being considered for the role. But an issue for him could be the close, trusted relationship he has built with Trump, who may want him to stay on as head of his protection for the first few years of his administration, one source familiar with Trump’s thinking told CNN.
As Trump continues to roll out names for top positions in the incoming administration, his choice for director of the Secret Service will be pivotal to the agency’s future – and a particularly personal one for Trump.
