Brace yourselves: the summer of 2028 promises to be an intense period for the United States Secret Service. With President Donald Trump still in the Oval Office, the agency will be tasked with a heightened level of protection duties as the nation gears up for a new presidential election. Both Republican and Democratic nominees, along with their running mates and family members, will require security details.

This already demanding scenario is compounded by the fact that Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1996, adding another layer of complexity to the Secret Service’s responsibilities. The agency, already under pressure following two assassination attempts on President Trump, is facing continuous threats. Just recently, an individual wielding a hammer was apprehended for vandalizing the Cincinnati residence of Vice President JD Vance.

Within the ranks, some Secret Service agents have ominously dubbed the upcoming year as ‘Armageddon,’ a sentiment echoed in a Sunday report by the Washington Post. In preparation for these unprecedented security challenges, the agency plans to expand its workforce by approximately 4,000 personnel, fortifying its ability to safeguard the nation during this high-stakes summer.

Additionally, for the first time since 1996, the United States will host the Summer Olympics, taking place in Los Angeles. 

These demands come as the agency has been under scrutiny over two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life, and the threats continue, as a hammer-wielding maniac was arrested for breaking windows at the Cincinnati home of Vice President JD Vance overnight.

Some Secret Service agents are privately referring to 2028 as ‘Armageddon,’ the Washington Post reported Sunday, writing that the agency plans to beef up its ranks by around 4,000 people ahead of time.

That would grow the Secret Service to more than 10,000 employees for the first time in history, an addition of about 20 percent. 

The Post reported that Deputy Director Matthew Quinn devised a plan to increase the Service’s special agent ranks from about 3,500 to around 5,000 members. About 2,000 would be added to the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division as well.

Officers from the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division patrol Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House. The Secret Service wants to recruit around 2,000 more people to this division ahead of 2028 

U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran (center right) watches President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump address a Fourth of July crowd last year surrounded by other Secret Service agents 

Some of the new hires would include support staff. 

But hiring for these jobs isn’t easy. 

The Secret Service had tried to bump the numbers to more than 10,000 employees before – over 10 years, concluding in 2025 – but the COVID-19 pandemic and leadership changes interfered.

Now the agency is also facing a wave of retirements, as members who joined the force during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks will soon be eligible. 

And they’re dealing with competition from other agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which have ramped up hiring to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations.

The Department of Homeland Security touted in a press release Saturday that ICE had hired more than 12,000 officers and agents in less than a year. 

These agencies are often pulling from the same pool of applicants – and the Secret Service positions are notoriously a grind, despite some of the best compensation for federal law enforcement officers. 

‘Our mindset is, we aren’t going to pay our way out of this,’ Quinn told the Post. ‘We can’t create enough incentives to negate the fact that we’re working our people very, very hard.’ 

Secret Service members are seen on the south side of the White House several days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year 

The U.S. Secret Service counter sniper team was captured on the roof of the West Wing when President Donald Trump took a tour of the roof over the press briefing room in August 

More employees would mean better working hours, but some officials were dubious that hiring could take place at such a pace to meet the goals ahead of 2028.

‘I hope they have success in getting those numbers as much as anybody, but it’s not realistic,’ one former senior official told the Post. ‘There’s no part of law enforcement that’s not struggling to hire.’

Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who served under former President Barack Obama, told the paper: ‘They’re going to have to turn headquarters into a hiring machine.’

Secret Service leaders were insistent to the Post that they weren’t going to lower standards.

Instead, they’re trying to speed up the process.

In November, the Secret Service held several accelerated hiring events in which applicants interviewed, took their physical fitness test and a polygraph over a period of days. 

The Post reported that the 18-month timeline has shrunk to less than a year, and Secret Service officials are trying to trim that by another four months. 

In the past, the long wait has lost the agency candidates, with prospects taking jobs at other law enforcement agencies that take less time to make hiring decisions.

A Secret Service agents patrols the South Lawn as Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, departs from the White House in September 

A member of the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division guards the White House in a snowstorm last January 

The Secret Service’s Chief Human Capital Officer Delisa Hall told the paper that the agency is recruiting from the military, law enforcement and college athletics. 

The agency is staying more engaged with applicants, so hopefuls aren’t lost to other employment opportunities along the way. 

‘It’s becoming evident that this may be our new normal to push applicants through,’ Hall said. 

It was a campaign year – 2024 – when the agency suffered its most serious blunder in years, as Trump, then a former president and the GOP nominee, was nearly assassinated at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. 

The hiring spree is intended to prevent such an incident from happening again four years later.

Still, Quinn admitted to the Post that even if the goals are met, ‘it’s still going to be a rough summer.’