The U.S. Secret Service handled multiple drone-related incidents over the years without adjusting its protection policies or documenting the reasons for not doing so, according to a government report released Thursday. That information could have helped illustrate the emerging threat posed by civilian drones before one was used in the 2024 assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The report from the Government Accountability Office identified delays and gaps in how the Secret Service updates its threat-related policies. It comes after a turbulent stretch for the agency responsible for the president's protection, and against a backdrop in which inexpensive, widely available consumer drones have become a growing concern for agencies charged with protecting public officials and restricted airspace.

In Butler, the would-be assassin positioned himself on a roof that had been left unsecured, nicking the president's ear with a bullet. Months later, a man carrying a rifle got surprisingly close to Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course. And in April, an armed man got past security barriers at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the president was seated.

According to the report, the Secret Service dealt with 83 security incidents between 2015 and 2025, updating its protection policies in response to 25 of them. Among those incidents was a drone that made contact with President Barack Obama's motorcade in 2015 and another flown roughly 200 feet (60 meters) above a rally for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

The core concern is the failure to document why the Secret Service decided against policy changes, said Nathan Tranquilli, acting director of the Government Accountability Office, adding that the drone incidents were a "compelling example" of that. Without that documentation, the agency loses an institutional record of how threats were assessed — the kind of record that could inform how future incidents are handled.

"Some of the missing information has been relevant to subsequent attacks," the report stated. It cited the Butler incident, in which the gunman flew a drone for 11 minutes over the crowd, helping him position himself to get a clear shot at Trump.

The Secret Service also failed to update eight of its 22 protection policies within the required four-year time frame. In addition, a memorandum of understanding between the Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service — which designates each agency's responsibilities for the president's overseas security — has not been updated since 1991, despite a requirement for annual review and updates. As a result, the memorandum does not address newer threats such as drones.

"When you look at the Secret Service and you look at their mission, really it's a zero fail mission, and they've got a ton of challenges," Tranquilli said. "When decisions were being made about where to put time and energy, some of these things fell to the side and, as a result, there were some delays."

The report recommended three fixes, including a requirement that the Secret Service revise its policy so that whenever a security incident does not warrant a policy update, the rationale for that decision is documented. Whether the recommended changes are implemented — and how quickly — will be a key measure of whether the agency's policy process keeps pace with evolving threats.

A Secret Service spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the report noted that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, agreed with all recommendations and plans to implement changes.

Source: Fortune