White House to review presidential security; spotlight on line of succession

Washington: A top White House official has convened a meeting of the US Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security later this week to review security for President Donald Trump after the shooting incident at the annual journalists’ dinner on Saturday.

The foiled attack at the Washington Hilton hotel, the venue of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, has also brought into focus the presidential line of succession as several cabinet secretaries were present at the event.

Susan Wiles, the White House chief of staff, has called a meeting of the Secret Service and the DHS leadership to discuss protocol and practices as Trump is set to participate in several public events in the run-up to the 250th anniversary of American Independence on July 4.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said officials had discussed having a designated survivor and the line of succession prior to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

"But there were several members of the Cabinet in the line of succession who did not attend for various personal reasons. So designating one survivor was not necessary as we have several members who were not there already," Leavitt said.

She said the meeting convened by Wiles will have a "conversation" on whether Trump and Vice President JD Vance should be present at the same public events. Besides Trump, Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – all of whom are in the line of succession - were present at the dinner.

"I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that,” Republican Congressman Michael McCaul told CNN.

"That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the US government. After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these," Senator John Fetterman said in a post on X.

"I can assure the president intends to attend the event as he has told all of you publicly," Leavitt said on the President’s call for rescheduling the WHCA dinner within the next 30 days.

"I don’t want to rule in or out the vice president’s attendance, but certainly that’s a conversation that will take place," Leavitt said.

Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley, the president pro-tempore of the Senate and third in the line of succession after Vance and House Speaker Johnson, did not attend the dinner.

"The Secret Service does not detail their procedures or operations to the public for obvious reasons, because you have crazy people who try to hijack them and get around them," Leavitt said.

"So these conversations will be taking place in private, but if adjustments need to be made to protect the president, they will be made," she said about the meeting convened by Wiles later this week.

Grassley, the Senator from Iowa, and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin were briefed by US Secret Service Director Sean Curran regarding the security protocols and law enforcement matters related to the WHCA dinner.

The US Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 outlines the presidential line of succession which follows this order – Vice President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defence, Attorney General, Secretaries of the Interior,  Agriculture, Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins served as the designated survivor for President Trump's 2026 State of the Union address on February 24-25, 2026.

Collins remained at a secure, undisclosed location during the February 24 address to ensure continuity of government.