A California man was arrested at the Trump National Golf Club near Los Angeles over the weekend after he was found with a loaded firearm and seen taking photographs of the property, the authorities said.
The arrest on Sunday came days before President Trump was set to speak at a fund-raiser on Tuesday night at the golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent coastal community overlooking the Pacific.
But the man, identified by the authorities as Jeanine John Taele of Downey, Calif., has not been accused of targeting Mr. Trump, and officials have not shared any evidence that his presence was tied to the president’s visit.
Federal agents in plainclothes first reported seeing Mr. Taele, 38, around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday taking photos of the golf course and observing “security-planning activities,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff’s deputies responding to the scene found Mr. Taele carrying a 16-round magazine with hollow-point rounds in his pocket. Inside his car in the parking lot, they found a loaded pistol and another loaded magazine with more hollow-point ammunition.
Mr. Taele was arrested on charges of carrying a concealed firearm and illegal ammunition. Officials also discovered that he was being investigated for robbery in a neighboring city, the sheriff’s department said.
On Tuesday, local detectives assigned to the F.B.I.’s Joint Terrorism Task Force raided Mr. Taele’s home in Downey, a Los Angeles suburb, and recovered a cache of firearms and equipment, including an illegally modified AR-style rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, ammo and radio equipment.
Detectives also found multiple notebooks containing “concerning statements,” according to the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s department said it presented its findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday morning. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said that his office was reviewing the evidence.
Mr. Taele remained in custody at the county jail on Tuesday evening. It was unclear if he had legal representation.
In April, a gunman was charged with attempting to assassinate the president after he breached security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, where Mr. Trump was in attendance, and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officials.
In February, a man was sentenced to life in prison for trying to kill the president at another one of his golf clubs, in Florida, in 2024.
And in July 2024, Mr. Trump survived an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Mr. Trump was grazed in the ear and an attendee was killed trying to shield his family.
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