this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2026
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[–] tal@lemmy.today 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Others are more sanguine. Paul Eckloff, a former Secret Service agent who served on Trump's detail and previously on Barack Obama's, argued that what has emerged in court so far does not amount to a 'genuine security breach,' saying operationally sensitive information remains classified.

He was more worried about the practical effect of having a giant dig site inside a secure perimeter. An open pit next to the Executive Residence, he said, inevitably alters the calculus for agents tasked with keeping intruders out and the president alive. 'The longer this is an active construction site, the more concerning it is from a general security posture,' Eckloff said.

I don't think it matters much from a national security standpoint, specifically because of this:

Judge Leon has not hidden his scepticism. At an earlier hearing, he dismissed the idea that Trump's safety required the ballroom to go ahead, describing the 'large hole' next to the White House as a 'problem of the President's own making.'

We don't protect the President because the President is some sort of exceptional, irreplaceable figure. The President is just some guy. If Trump gets shot, then Vance gets dropped into the slot and things keep on trucking. Hell, personally I think that the US would very probably be better-off with just about any other major politician at the wheel.

We protect the President because we don't want it to be viable to coerce the President via physical threat. We don't want a country to say "do X on Policy Y or maybe we kill you" and have that be something that can affect the President's policy-making.

In this case, Trump decided that he was going to go right ahead and create the security risk, so he's probably not especially concerned about it. If he wanted it to stop, which presumably he would if he were worried about being killed, he could stop it. Ergo, cocercion isn't a factor.

If Trump decides tomorrow that he wants to go wingsuit BASE jumping or something, I mean, okay, sure, whatever. The Secret Service can just sit around and munch popcorn and watch him face-plant into a hillside, as far as I'm concerned. The problem isn't the President dying, but him being affected by threats of him being killed.

That's also why we have lifetime Secret Service protection for the President after he leaves office. It's not like he's being President then, not like we'd lose whatever he's bringing to the table. But you don't want other parties to be able to threaten the guy in office with retribution after he leaves office.