Donald Trump will be sworn in as US president on January 20, but the process of handing over power began much earlier. Several events of national security importance will be organized before it in January, the security of which is the responsibility of the secret service. The biggest event will be the inauguration ceremony, which will be held under unprecedented security measures. At the same time, the question is how safe Donald Trump can feel after the secret service failed to protect him several times in the summer, and even his hotel just a few days ago successfully attacked – writes Világgazdaság.
The American secret service is facing a big test
The US Secret Service is responsible for securing events of national importance in the United States. Such events in January include, for example, the congressional counting of the electors’ votes, the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, and the large-scale rally organized for President-elect Donald Trump on January 19 at the Capital One Arena.
The biggest event, however, will be the inauguration ceremony the next day, for which unprecedented security measures are being prepared.
“This has never happened before,” said Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington office, describing the series of events held under heightened security.
This year, the secret service and intelligence are under increased scrutiny and pressure after they made several big mistakes in the early detection and prevention of threats against Trump: first, luck played a role in the fact that the campaigning politician escaped with only a wound attempted murder in the summer, and then thanks to the presence of mind of his bodyguards future attacker he couldn’t pull the trigger. Even the first attack pointed to security gaps, which he became the head of the secret service.
Joe Biden declared that he would do everything for a peaceful transfer of power, and he invited Trump to the White House on the morning of inauguration day.
Increased security measures at the inauguration ceremony
Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance take the oath of office in front of the Capitol. Organizing the event is a big challenge if only because it will be outdoors.
Several services are involved in the security process:
in addition to the coordination of the secret service, the police and the FBI will supervise order, while the city will be patrolled by soldiers. In addition to them, bomb detection equipment, snipers and radiation detectors are deployed.
Congressman Troy Balderson information extremely strict security measures are to be expected: guests must go through the usual security checks at airports, and they are not allowed to bring strollers, folding chairs, umbrellas, backpacks and food into the venue.
All of Washington will be on alert. Traffic in the American capital is expected to be paralyzed, several streets will be closed. About 7,800 soldiers of the National Guard, in addition to thousands of federal agents and police officers, are helping to control traffic and ensure public order in the streets.
This year, the authorities also have to take care of the safety of several country leaders, because, contrary to custom, Trump also invited foreign leaders, e.g. Xi Jinping Chinese and Argentine Presidents Javier Milei.
Outgoing President Joe Biden and, as usual, former presidents who are still alive will also attend the event. It is true that Trump broke tradition four years ago, when he was not present at Biden’s inauguration, as the politician who lost the US presidential election at the time did not recognize the victory of his Democratic opponent.
The secret service must pay particular attention not only to ensuring that the participants do not get hurt, but also to prevent possible riots from breaking out. The high degree of polarization of society is shown by the fact that they have been Trump supporters for four years they besieged the Capitolwhich resulted in death and for which criminal trials are still ongoing.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said that a joint information center was set up to ensure smooth cooperation between the authorities. In preparation for the inauguration, the FBI has established a command in both the Washington field office and headquarters to collect information, assess potential threats, coordinate investigations and mobilize resources as needed, according to a statement from the organization.
Deputy Director of the FBI’s Washington Regional Office, Dave Sundberg, informed that AP news agencythat
so far, they are not aware of any credible or specific threats related to the events.
Nevertheless, vigilance is extremely important, as shown by the possible terrorist attack against one of Donald Trump’s hotels in early January. It was also a failure of intelligence and intelligence. As it turned out, it was a pleasure to be the assassin Elon Musk he also used his Cybertruck as a fortress.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
