President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to meet former President Donald Trump‘s new requests for increased security during the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.
The Washington Post reported Friday morning that Trump’s campaign has been frustrated with the United States Secret Service following the two attempts on the former president’s life and efforts by Iran to kill the former president. The campaign is now actively petitioning acting USSS director Ronald Rowe Jr. to procure military aircraft and vehicles for the remainder of Trump’s campaign travel.
Biden briefly spoke to reporters at the White House on Friday, where he said he had directed the Department of Homeland Security to meet those requests, with one possible exception.
“As long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s. I’ve told the department to give him every single thing he needs,” Biden stated, adding that Trump should be treated as if “he were a sitting president.”
“If it fits into that category, that’s fine,” the president continued.
Trump campaign manager Susie Wiles issued the new security requests to Rowe in a series of emails exchanged over the past two weeks, according to The Washington Post.
In one message, Wiles reportedly voiced extreme “displeasure” with even the increased security USSS has provided the Trump campaign. Wiles claimed that the campaign was forced to cancel a recent public event due to a “lack of personnel.”
“Assistance from the Department of Defense is regularly provided for the former president’s protection, to include explosive ordnance disposal, canine units, and airlift transportation,” USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “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.”
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Trump’s full list of new requests includes military aircraft for Trump to fly in, like Air Force One or Two, in addition to military ground vehicles for the former president’s motorcade.
The campaign is also asking for enhanced flight restrictions over Trump’s residences and campaign events and for ballistic glass to be positioned across 2024’s seven battlegrounds: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.