This was a close call.
As the WLT Report previously reported, 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele was arrested on Sunday after arriving at Trump National Golf Club in California, heavily armed.
Taele's arrest came just two days before President Trump was expected to visit the golf club.
New details have revealed that Taele was a decorated Marine who served both in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yahoo News reported more details on Taele's arrest and provided his military background:
The armed man accused of scouting President Trump's Southern California golf club is a decorated Marine who imagined himself working federal security detail while meticulously documenting surveillance logs, The California Post has learned.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey, falsely claimed he worked for the State Department and was assigned to a security detail when he was approached by federal agents and arrested at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes Sunday, according to prosecutors.
Taele was allegedly seen wearing an earpiece and photographing Secret Service during a previous visit to the course on July 31.
Investigators found seven notebooks filled with detailed surveillance logs during a search of Taele's home after his arrest, The Post learned. The search also turned up an illegally modified AR-style rifle and gold badge that read "Fugitive Recovery Bail Enforcement."
"Anyone with that amount of firepower around the President poses a serious threat. He had the means to carry out something very serious but thanks to the quick work of law enforcement, he never had that opportunity," First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli told The Post.
"We dont' know what his motive is yet. That's the focus of our ongoing investigation. We will leave no stone unturned. He falsely represented himself as an employee of the state department. He claimed to be conducting surveillance. As part of our search, we recovered 7 journals containing surveillance logs. This is not normal behavior," he continued.
Taele served in the Marine Corps from March 2008 until March 2016, reaching the rank of corporal while assigned as a warehouse clerk with the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Pendleton, according to military records obtained by The California Post.
Taele deployed to Iraq from October 2008 through March 2009, and later served in Afghanistan from June through December 2010, records show.
He earned two Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals, awarded for repeated periods of honorable and disciplined service, along with a Navy Unit Commendation recognizing exceptional performance by his unit, according to his military file.
Taele received the National Defense Service Medal for serving during the post-Sept. 11 Global War on Terror era, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal for his overseas deployments, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons recognizing extended overseas assignments, and the NATO International Security Assistance Force Medal for supporting the alliance's mission in Afghanistan.
As part of their deep dive, federal investigators are digging into Taele's history, including whether he had any ties to extremist groups or connections to the Californian men at the center of a foiled terror plot at the UFC event at the White House, a law enforcement source told the California Post.
Taele now faces federal charges after his arrest just days before the president's Aug. 4 fundraising visit at the golf club.
Here's the mugshot of Taele:
Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey, who was arrested at Trump National Golf Course Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, a felony carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in… pic.twitter.com/oY3ISp8n6x
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) August 5, 2026
ABC News noted that Taele visited Trump National Golf Course twice before being arrested:
A man taken into custody at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles County over the weekend visited the grounds twice while a security assessment was underway ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the site, according to a Department of Justice complaint, which said the suspect took photos and videos of the security-planning activities and claimed to work for the State Department.
The suspect — 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele of Downey, California — allegedly had ammunition in his pocket and a loaded pistol in his pickup truck, authorities said.
Hats off to federal agents who thwarted the potential attack.
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