Donald Trump’s campaign reportedly wants the GOP candidate to travel in military aircraft and vehicles during the final weeks leading up to the election.
He also wants expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, as well as bulletproof glass to be installed ahead of campaign events in battleground states, according to The Washington Post.
The requests for such extraordinary and unprecedented measures, first reported by The New York Times, come after the campaign was briefed on Iranian plots to kill the former president. His advisers are concerned about drones and missiles, not just lone gunmen, who targeted him twice already over the summer.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump campaign manager Susie Wiles told the Secret Service in recent weeks that the former president’s event planning has been hampered because he does not have adequate protections.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi suggested the former president is already getting the extra security he wants, saying in a statement to the Post: “Assistance from the Department of Defense is regularly provided for the former president’s protection, to include explosive ordinance disposal, canine units, and airlift transportation.”
He added that the Secret Service is arranging for the sort of flight restrictions Trump’s team requested. “Additionally, the former president is receiving the highest level of technical-security assets which include unmanned aerial vehicles, counter unmanned aerial surveillance systems, ballistics, and other advanced technology systems,” he told the Post.
Former U.S. officials said such requests for military assets from a party nominee were unheard of, and that they would be shocked if the Secret Service granted the requests.
Trump has often sought to portray himself as a strongman rather than a leader of democracy. In 2018, he demanded a grand military parade and envisioned soldiers and tanks rolling down the main thoroughfares of Washington. Ultimately, his $92 million plan was scrapped.
Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, receives protection from the military and travels in Air Force Two, a military plane, because of her current office.
