WASHINGTON — The US Secret Service is pledging that President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration will be its largest and best-protected event in history, coming after an unprecedented election year that saw two assassination attempts against the Republican.
More than 25,000 law enforcement officers will descend on Washington, DC, for the 60th Presidential Inauguration and roughly 30 miles of fencing have been erected to prepare for the special national security event, CBS News reported.
“The amount of fencing and the amount of personnel that we bring in for this inauguration eclipses all other inaugurations that we have,” Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Michael Thomas told the outlet in an exclusive interview.
The DC Metro Police Department will be out in full force, along with 4,000 cops from departments nationwide and an additional 7,800 National Guard troops — but tens of thousands chairs set up on the National Mall won’t be filled after Trump, 78, moved the ceremony indoors for the first time in 40 years.
The heavy law enforcement presence will also include at least 25 Coast Guard ships patrolling the icy Potomac River, as well as Energy Department helicopters circling airspace in the nation’s capital to pick up any “radiological or nuclear irregularities.”
“We have an exceptional team that is unmatched in its commitment and focus on ensuring the success and security of Monday’s presidential transition,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on X.
“From radiological threats to flat tires, the Secret Service has spent over a year preparing for Monday’s inauguration, working with top law enforcement and public safety partners to ensure a safe, successful event,” he said.
Sources told The Post there’s no credible intelligence of any foreign terror threats against the once and future president on Inauguration Day after Iran had an earlier assassination plot against Trump foiled during the 2024 campaign.
It’s not likely Tehran will try again on a high-profile protectee amid the inauguration, according to the sources, but precautions are being taken to ensure planned demonstrations don’t provide cover for other potentially violent extremists.
More than two dozen separate protests are expected to target Trump’s inauguration, sources added, including those opposed the 2024 election results and pro-Palestinian demonstrations after a cease-fire began Sunday in the Israel-Hamas war.
On Friday, Trump asked for the presidential inauguration to be moved inside for the first time since 1985, citing frigid temperatures expected to hit Capitol Hill in three days.
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” he posted on his Truth Social.
“It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!).”
Temperatures will dip to below 20 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday with heavy winds. Snow is also forecast on Sunday.
Reagan entered his second term in the Capitol Rotunda in 1985. The National Weather Service recorded the temperature on Jan. 21 that year was 7 degrees, with sub-zero wind chills.
At least 250,000 attendees already bought tickets for Trump’s historic inauguration, the Associated Press reported, eager to see the first swearing-in for a president who will serve two non-consecutive terms since Democrat Grover Cleveland.
“The ticketed areas outside, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, will now be closed to ticketed guests,” reps for Capitol Police said in a statement, vowing that officers will “still have a heightened security posture with an increased law enforcement presence and layers of physical security.”
Trump has designated the Capital One arena downtown to host as the premier watch party location, but the stadium seats just 20,000.
“The vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person,” the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies said in a statement Friday. “While we know this is difficult for many attendees, we strongly suggest people who are in Washington for the event attend other indoor events at indoor venues of their choice to watch the inauguration.”
Before the ceremony moved inside, Secret Service agents had been relentlessly drilling for the big inaugural parade on Monday — which will also be Martin Luther King Jr. Day — and were expected to roll out black and gold vehicles for the first time in the presidential motorcade, according to NBC 4.
“The biggest threat, I think for all of us, remains the lone actor,” US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told Fox 5.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, striking the former commander-in-chief in the right ear.
He had been identified as a suspicious person after wandering the grounds with a rangefinder scope — and evaded detection at a magnetometer by slipping through gates merely zip-tied shut.
The security footprint for the Butler Farm Show grounds lacked a unified command post, but the DC plans have accounted for two command posts at the FBI Washington Field Office and the bureau’s headquarters in Quantico, Va., according to Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg.
On Sept. 15, another would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, set up a sniper’s nest at the fence line of the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Fla., but was unable to get off a shot before a Secret Service agent opened fire, causing the 58-year-old to flee before being apprehended.
In addition to the president-elect, Vice President-elect JD Vance and their immediate families, President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, former Presient Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush and former President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton will attend.
A few foreign leaders — such as Argentine President Javier Milei — are also attending the ceremony for the first time.
Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to Trump and Vance during the swearing-in.
The soon-to-be 47th president is also likely to be accompanied by a longtime member of his personal security detail, Sean Curran, who shielded Trump at the Butler incident and whom MAGA power brokers — including Don Jr. — claimed Friday will succeed Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe.
The Post reached out to the Secret Service and the DC government’s Inauguration Joint Information Center for comment.
The post How the Secret Service plans to protect Trump on Inauguration Day appeared first on New York Post.
