Sean Curran led the president’s personal security detail during two unsuccessful assassination attempts
US President Donald Trump has named Sean Curran, who led his Secret Service (USSS) bodyguard detail while he was on the campaign trail, to direct the agency.
Trump faced two assassination attempts during his 2024 reelection campaign. On July 13, Curran, who was among the secret serviceman protecting the candidate during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, rushed to shield him after a bullet had grazed the president’s right ear. A member of the audience was killed and two others were wounded as a result of the attack before the gunman was neutralized.
In a post on Wednesday on his Truth Social media platform, Trump said that Curran “is a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service.”
The US president noted that the secret serviceman “proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
Trump’s appointment of Curran comes despite two bipartisan commissions’ recommendations earlier this year that the next president pick someone outside the agency to serve as director, according to a CBS News report.
Unlike other cabinet positions or the FBI director, an appointment to lead the USSS does not require a Senate confirmation vote.
Curran, who started his career in 2001, has served as the special agent in charge of Trump’s security detail for four years, supervising over 80 personnel.
He has never worked at the USSS headquarters in Washington and arguably lacks managerial experience for the top-ranking position, but has a strong reputation as an agent, according to a New York Times report which cited people who have worked with Curran.
Jonathan Wackrow, a secret serviceman who worked for years with Curran, described him as a trusted and detail-oriented agent with an intimate understanding of the agency and a sharp sense of humor.
“Trump obviously trusts him,” another former special agent has claimed.
Curran will replace Ron Rowe, who had filled the role of acting director since July, when USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned due to intense scrutiny of the agency’s security lapses in the aftermath of the assassination attempt. The gunman had managed to get within 150 meters of Trump and fired several shots before being killed.
Multiple inquiries reportedly found that during the Butler rally, the USSS did not place a single person in charge of coordinating security, while many of the agents were complacent when giving instructions to local law enforcement to help secure the event. Several secret servicemen were later placed on restricted duty.
