Man arrested at Trump's California golf course faces illegal weapons
charges
[August 06, 2026]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California man who was arrested at President Donald
Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course was pretending to be part of the
security detail preparing for Trump’s visit and had a stash of illegal
weapons in his car and home, authorities said.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, was due in court Wednesday on a federal weapons
charge but the hearing was cancelled. He is being held at a downtown LA
jail on state charges, according to booking records and not yet in
federal custody, said a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Taele was arrested Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos
Verdes, two days before Trump visited for a fundraising dinner.
Taele was first seen on the property Friday, walking throughout the
course wearing an earpiece and taking photos and videos of federal
agents' activities as they conducted a security assessment, according to
a federal criminal complaint.
Taele drove away but then returned to the course Sunday. He approached
federal agents and said he was employed by the State Department and was
there for a security detail. Taele said he had a loaded weapon in his
vehicle and was arrested after it was searched, according to federal
officials. Authorities also found a 16-round magazine with ammunition in
his pocket.
He already appeared in court on state weapons charges and a
second-degree robbery charge for an unrelated incident.
Taele is charged federally with possession of an unregistered
short-barreled rifle that was found at this home, authorities said. The
complaint alleges the firearm is an illegally modified AR-style rifle
with a barrel that was cut down to 10 inches (25 centimeters) from 14
inches (35 centimeters).
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said a search of his pickup
truck in the club parking lot turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars
and a badge that read “security protection agent," according to federal
prosecutors.
Law enforcement searched his home in the nearby city of Downey on Monday
and found a rifle and other firearms, magazines and ammunition, body
armor and notebooks with “concerning statements," federal authorities
said. No details about the statements were released.
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The entrance to Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, in Rancho
Palos Verdes, Calif., is seen in this photo, July 2, 2020. (AP
Photo/John Antczak, File)
“Mr. Taele’s troubling behavior at the President’s public golf
course merely days before the President was expected to arrive
raised serious red flags for law enforcement,” Patrick Grandy, the
assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said
in a statement. “There is no room for error, particularly in light
of previous attempts on President Trump’s life.”
In brief remarks about Taele's arrest to Fox News on Tuesday, Trump
said “only consequential presidents” are targeted, “and I am
definitely consequential," which he said brought him “a little
solace.”
Taele was a corporal in the U.S. Marines who was deployed to Iraq in
2008 and Afghanistan in 2010 and worked as a warehouse clerk,
according to the U.S. Marine Corps. He earned numerous
commendations, including an award for good conduct, during his
service from 2008 to 2016.
State records show Taele is a licensed security guard, with his most
recent license issued in February of this year and expiring in 2028.
Records also show several cancelled or suspended permits to carry a
firearm as a security guard. State officials did not immediately
respond to a request for more details about those permits.
The Los Angeles County public defender's office, which is
representing Taele in the state criminal case, did not immediately
return an email seeking comment Wednesday. Family members could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Last year a jury found a man guilty of trying to assassinate Trump
at the president’s Florida country club. And while a candidate in
2024, Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a shooter
on a roof at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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