Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is requesting military assets to protect him in the final weeks of the campaign after receiving intelligence briefings from U.S. officials about Iran’s continued efforts to assassinate him.
The campaign has requested “sophisticated, classified military assets that are used only for sitting presidents; the pre-placement of ballistic, or bullet-resistant, glass in the main battleground states where he would be campaigning most frequently; and an expansion of temporary flight restrictions over Mr. Trump’s residences and campaign sites,” The New York Times reported.
The requests come after Trump narrowly escaped death when he was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
There was also a plot from the Iranian government that was foiled in July when a Pakistani national was arrested in the U.S. for an alleged murder-for-hire scheme to kill the former president.
He was nearly shot at again while playing golf at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach in September.
The campaign has been hampered by the Secret Service’s inability to provide the necessary level of protection at all campaign events, which has led the campaign to have to cancel some events.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that Trump should receive the same level of protection that he does.
“I’ve told the department to give him every single thing he needs … as he were a sitting president,” Biden said. “If it fits into that category, that’s fine.”
Former U.S. officials told The Washington Post that it would be “extraordinary” for the Secret Service to provide military assets to protect Trump. The Post noted that Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, “receives protection from the U.S. Marines as vice president and flies on Air Force Two, which is a military airplane.”
The newspaper seemingly acknowledged that the administration would loath to give Trump military protection because it could help him politically.
“If the administration granted such assets, it would give Trump a distinct look in the final months that no challenger has ever had — and would remind voters visually, every day, that he is under threat,” the report said.
