Trump looking at naming right-wing radio host Dan Bongino to head the Secret Service: Report
Donald Trump is reportedly considering right-wing radio host Dan Bongino to head the Secret Service, as the embattled security outfit seeks to rebuild credibility after multiple near-miss assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
The host of the Dan Bongino Show political podcast previously served as a Secret Service agent, and was a regular commentator and host on Fox News until last year.
Trump is also reportedly considering Sean Curran, the current head of the president-elect’s security detail, and Robert Engel, the former leader of his detail, for the position, which does not require Senate confirmation.
The Independent has contacted Bongino and the Trump transition team for comment.
Bongino said on his podcast last week he hadn’t had any formal conversations with the Trump administration.
In addition to his stints in the Secret Service and at Fox, he has previously served as a New York City police officer, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress three times.
In his media appearances, Bongino has frequently defended Trump and echoed his ideas, including criticizing the Mar-a-Lago search by the FBI that uncovered thousands of classified documents, and spreading unfounded claims about the 2020 election.
Bongino was permanently banned from YouTube in 2022 for allegedly spreading Covid misinformation.
The Secret Service has come under heavy scrunity during the 2024 election season, after two assassination attempts against Donald Trump, and after a third armed man was stopped outside a Trump rally.
The agency is plagued with a “corrosive” culture and a “troubling lack of critical thinking,” according to a scathing report from outside experts for the Department of Homeland Security in October.
In July, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned, after facing a grilling in Congress.
Bongino isn’t the only media figure who could end up in the administration
Trump tapped Fox News’s Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, though the transition is reportedly considering alternatives given sexual misconduct allegations against him. Hegseth denies wrongdoing.
He also named Sean Duffy, a former reality TV star and Fox Business presenter, to be his Transportation Secretary, and has moved to nominate Linda McMahon, the estranged wife of former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, as his Education Secretary.