Armed suspect arrested at Trump's Rancho Palos Verdes golf course in advance of president's visit

Clara Harter and Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times on Aug 4, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — Hours before President Donald Trump is scheduled to headline a Tuesday evening fundraiser at his Rancho Palos Verdes golf course, authorities announced that they had arrested a heavily armed individual seen wandering the grounds Sunday.

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies responded to the golf course around 3:30 p.m. Saturday after federal agents saw a suspicious man taking photographs and appearing to monitor security-planning activities.

Deputies detained the man, who was identified as Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey. They found a loaded magazine in his pants pocket and a loaded pistol and additional ammunition in his car in the parking lot at Trump National Golf Club. They also determined he was under investigation for robbery by the El Segundo Police Department.

Taele was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed firearm and possessing prohibited ammunition.

On Monday, sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents searched his Downey residence and found an alarming stash of weapons — including an illegally modified AR platform rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines and bulk pistol ammunition. Detectives found multiple notebooks containing “concerning statements” and two radio signal devices.

The investigation is ongoing, but authorities have identified “no credible threat to our communities.”

President Trump was aboard Air Force 1 en route to Los Angeles when the Sheriff’s Department announced the arrest. Trump is hosting a Republican Party fundraiser at Rancho Palos Verdes golf course on Tuesday evening as part of a two-day visit to California and Nevada.

Reporters are not allowed inside the event, where a White House spokesperson said the president intended to tout his wins in advancing tax cuts and securing the border, while denouncing the “radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom.” The president then plans to deliver remarks on the economy at a Las Vegas casino Wednesday before returning to Washington, D.C.

Tuesday evening’s fundraiser marks Trump’s second trip to L.A. since returning to office, with the first taking place in January 2025 when he toured the fire-ravaged areas of the Pacific Palisades.

Newsom used Trump’s visit to call attention to the fact that many residents in the Palisades and Altadena continued to wait for his administration to dole out wildfire relief aid.

“Donald Trump promised he’d ‘take care’ of Los Angeles firestorm survivors,” Newsom said in a Tuesday afternoon statement on X, but “18 months later, he’s flying back to LA. Not to help, but to host a fundraiser at his golf club.”

Since the Eaton and Palisades fires, California has submitted more than $1.5 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement claims for emergency response and infrastructure repairs, but only $37 million in funding has been approved thus far, according to the governor’s office.

Trump, for his part, ignored criticism around the wait for wildfire relief on Tuesday and instead took to social media to tout his administration’s economic achievements.

He wrote in a Truth Social post that investments in the U.S. economy and more “factory activity” were evidence of how well the country was doing. “The Fake News and the Dumocrats are doing everything they can to distract people’s thoughts from these MASSIVE Successes, but it’s getting harder and harder for them to do,” Trump wrote. He added: “This is the GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA, and we’re just getting started.”

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