How much security does the president have

Special vehicles: The President of the US travels in a special limousine and flies in the Air Force One, the most sophisticated civilian aircraft in the world. Dog squads: As the visit of President Trump inches closer, sniffer dogs are set into action to make sure that the areas are bomb-proof. He may be the most powerful person in the world but calls on his security are taken by the Secret Service.

One of these flights will also carry some helicopters, in case he needs to travel somewhere within India. In , President George W. Bush was nearly killed in Tbilisi, Georgia, because he insisted on attending an event where the outer perimeter had been breached. A would-be assassin smuggled a grenade into the crowd and threw it at the platform Bush was on.

It landed close enough to potentially kill the president, but it did not detonate. Trust between Biden and the agents protecting him should be easy to come by. His detail leaders are familiar to him, according to a report in The Washington Post , and the new special agent in charge, David Cho, is highly regarded in the Secret Service.

Former agents believe that the current director, James Murray, will retire once the transfer of power is complete. I visited the tactical-operations center and looked at a map showing the location of dozens of armed tactical teams staged around the city. The smallest incident—such as when a lapel pin identifying a security agent goes missing -- is cause for alarm and analysis.

But the federal law-enforcement forces are largely siloed. Commanders and senior officers from different agencies can talk with one another, but the flow of intelligence and situational awareness is not constant. The MACC offers a blueprint for how this could work.

However, it is temporary, and once an event is over, it becomes a regular conference room again. After the inauguration ceremony tomorrow, federal law enforcement will return to its traditional posture: Individual agencies will vet information they receive and then determine whether it should be distributed, and to whom.

As of , multiple batteries were set up around the area, one of which was armed with Stinger missiles. Counterassault teams carry a variety of weapons, including a device that can shoot multiple electrified darts at would-be attackers simultaneously. If a mob tried to vault over the improved White House fence — a response to intrusions in —it would be met by numerous tactical units, vicious Belgian Malinois K9s, snipers with permission to kill, and, within a short while, SWAT teams from the FBI and other police agencies.

The service completed a costly radio upgrade, allowing agents and officers to be in instant and secure communication with other agencies in the region. Motorcade vehicles have been up-armored, and the electronic countermeasure trucks that trail the presidential limousine are soon to be upgraded with technology that creates a virtual fence around presidential trip sites.

The agents I spoke with insist with pride, and some history to back them up, that if the Secret Service had been in charge at the Capitol on January 6, the insurrection would have been stopped much more quickly. After the inauguration, the fortress of Washington will open up again, and the National Guard troops who have descended on the city will return to their home states.

That said, the Former Presidents Act is an act of Congress that can be amended, so Congress likely could strip Trump of the perks he enjoys as an ex-president. Until the late s, former presidents received no pension after leaving office.

Congress changed that, in large part due to embarrassment over the fact that former President Harry Truman had little income beyond a military pension for many of his early years out of office. The Former Presidents Act also funds office space and a modest staff for one-time chief executives.

Meanwhile, the provision permitting Trump to have a government-funded office space could potentially spark conflict between Trump and the Biden administration.

If he were to remarry, his new spouse could potentially be eligible upon his death. Former presidents traditionally receive intelligence briefings. A former president is not entitled to these briefings as a matter of law, however.

Former presidents also enjoy personal security protection. In theory, the Department of Homeland Security might be able to deny Secret Service protection to Trump, or Congress could amend the law to strip Trump of his security protections — although, for many of the same reasons Gordon cited in warning against providing Trump with additional classified information, there are sound national security reasons to continue to provide Secret Service protection to Trump.

Trump undoubtedly learned numerous American secrets during his time in office, and that makes him a potential target for foreign adversaries or other individuals who may wish to make use of those secrets.

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