Man with illegal weapons in home, car arrested at Trump golf club in California

LOS ANGELES — A man with weapons in his home and vehicle who appeared to be “monitoring security-planning activities” at the Los Angeles-area Trump National Golf Course was arrested days before a planned presidential visit, the county sheriff’s department said Tuesday.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, a resident of the Los Angeles-area city of Downey, was arrested Sunday at the course in Rancho Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The department said deputies found a loaded magazine with hollow-point bullets in Taele’s pants pocket after they’d been contacted by plainclothes federal agents regarding a suspicious person at 3:28 p.m.

“The individual was observed walking throughout the golf course grounds taking photographs and videos and appearing to monitor security-planning activities,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

The department said that deputies arrived and made contact with Taele and learned he was under investigation for robbery in the Los Angeles-area city of El Segundo. They also found a loaded pistol in his vehicle at the club’s parking lot, officials said.

Taele was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed firearm and possession of armor-piercing or otherwise prohibited ammunition, the sheriff’s department said.

Taele’s home was searched Monday, and an “illegally modified AR platform rifle,” a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines and ammunition were found, the sheriff’s department said.

“Multiple notebooks containing concerning statements” and two “radio signal devices” were also discovered, the sheriff’s department said.

The arrest came two days before Trump was scheduled to visit Los Angeles and have a fundraiser at the golf resort. The sheriff’s department did not mention any direct threat to the president.

Taele has been charged in connection with the 2025 robbery, as well as the incident that began Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.

Jail records showed Taele was in custody Tuesday. Online court records did not appear to show an attorney for him Tuesday evening, and efforts to find a phone number connected with him were not immediately successful.

He is charged with second-degree robbery and also three other counts that deal with possessing a large-capacity magazine, having a concealed firearm in a vehicle and possession of a short-barreled rifle, records show.

Rancho Palos Verdes is in the Los Angeles area but is a separate city on the Pacific coast, around 20 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

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