Trump requests military aircraft and vehicles amid Iran threat

The requests are extraordinary and unprecedented — no nominee has been flown in a military plane before an election in recent history. But the requests came after Trump campaign advisers received a briefing in which the government said Iran was still actively plotting to kill him, according to the Post and emails reviewed by people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitivity. Trump's advisers have been concerned about drones and missiles, according to The Talk People.

In an email from campaign manager Susie Wiles to Secret Service chief Ronald L. Roe Jr. over the past two weeks, she expressed displeasure with the Secret Service and said the campaign recently had to cancel a public event at the last minute. Because of the Secret Service's “understaffing” — instead only putting Trump in a small room with reporters. Wiles said the Trump campaign is hampering its plans because of the threat, which is expected to hold more events in the final weeks of the campaign.

He also wrote that the US government had not been able to provide the campaign with a comprehensive enough plan to protect Trump. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally, wrote a letter to the Secret Service asking for additional security for military aircraft or Trump's personal aircraft, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.

Trump spokesman Daniel Alvarez declined to comment.

Secret Service officials did not respond to specific questions about negotiations with the Trump campaign, but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Trump was receiving the “highest level of protection.” In a letter to the campaign, Rowe said the government was assessing what could be provided.

“Defense Department assistance is routinely provided for the protection of the former president, including explosive ordnance disposal, canine units and airlift transportation,” Guglielmi said. The Secret Service is imposing a temporary flight ban on “the former president's residence and when he travels.” “Additionally, the former president is receiving the highest level of technological security assets including unmanned aerial vehicles, counter unmanned aerial surveillance systems, ballistics and other advanced technology systems.”

The requests were first reported by The New York Times on Friday.

Former U.S. officials said they were not aware of any presidential designation receiving military jets. One person who has served in senior roles under multiple Republican administrations said it would be “extraordinary” for the Secret Service to grant such a request.

Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, received protection from the US Marines as vice president and flew on Air Force Two, a military aircraft.

The Republican nominee has already begun traveling on extra planes, and officials are sometimes careful to split up his motorcade and put Trump on nondescript planes instead of his longtime 757 jet.

The requests fueled a months-long battle between Trump's team and the Secret Service, which escalated after two assassination attempts on the former president. It would be unprecedented for a presidential candidate to grant such a request, especially a military plane to transport Trump. If the administration were to grant such resources, it would give Trump a distinctive look in the final months that no challenger has ever had — and give voters a daily visual reminder that he is under threat.

Trump and his team have grown frustrated with the Secret Service in recent months, even as they praise Trump's own security detail. The Secret Service has repeatedly beefed up Trump's security, but did not want to raise the level of the campaign, the people said.

There is no evidence tying Iran to any of the recent killings, the people said, but the FBI has not ruled out the possibility of a connection. U.S. spies have determined that Iran's leaders are seeking revenge on U.S. officials, including Trump, whom they blame for the 2020 killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, but Iran's ability to strike inside the U.S. is limited, according to people briefed on the intelligence.

Trump has repeatedly asked campaign advisers and US government officials whether Iran was behind the two gunmen who opened fire on July 13 in Butler, Pa. and tried to kill him separately in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, according to people familiar with the matter. Several of Trump's advisers at the briefing were convinced — even without evidence — that Iran was behind the earlier threats.

In June, undercover FBI agents met with a Pakistani man in Brooklyn who was trying to hire hit men to kill an American politician on behalf of Iran, according to indictments unsealed in August. The foiled plot prompted national security officials to alert the Secret Service about unspecified Iranian threats to Trump. On July 12, the day before Trump's Butler rally, authorities arrested Asif Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani man.

Investigators have been unable to establish a motive for Butler's shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who grazed Trump's ear and killed a rallygoer before being shot from a nearby rooftop by a Secret Service countersniper. Crooks was a registered Republican, made a small donation to a liberal PAC, researched past assassinations and had photos of Trump and President Joe Biden on his phone.

People briefed on Butler's investigation said there was no evidence to indicate a foreign connection.

The Trump campaign is also dealing with fallout from Iranian hackers who stole sensitive campaign documents and tried to release them to the media or share them with the Biden campaign, according to federal prosecutors. An indictment released Sept. 27 against three Iranian nationals alleges an extensive, year-long effort to target a Trump lawyer, a former CIA official and a former U.S. ambassador. In recent days, more campaign workers have been told they were targeted by the Iranians.

Trump's late September visit to a college football game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was the most heavily guarded since leaving office, with bullet-resistant glass and 150 metal detectors deployed throughout the stadium, according to one of the people. Returning to Butler on October 5, a row of shipping containers lined the perimeter of the venue, blocking the view from a temporary road. Security forces at the scene included drones, helicopters, undercover officers, snipers and tactical teams.

Analysts believe that Iran does not hide its desire to kill Trump. An animated video of a drone shooting at Trump playing golf recently resurfaced. The video was posted on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's website on January 14, 2022.

At the same time, former CIA official Norman Raul notes, “Iran is challenged by the fact that it lacks a large presence in the United States and is under intense scrutiny by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services and their foreign partners.”

Unable to get their own workers into the U.S. easily, Iranians have had to resort to “third-country nationals and criminals” to try to kill them, he said.

Iran may have felt able to threaten the former president in part, he said, because of “the lack of serious consequences for its lethal campaign by the West” against former US officials, activists and journalists in the United States and Britain, Raul said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the evidence available about Crooks and the golf course suspect appears to more closely match the profile of homegrown violent extremists identified by the FBI. A growing domestic terrorism threat.

“There was intelligence about a possible threat from Iran, but there was no connection to the July 13th shooter,” Blumenthal said. “I am not aware of any evidence at this time that the apparent killer in Florida had any ties to any other country.”

Iran's desire for revenge is not new. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Congress in 2022 that his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, still had round-the-clock government security.

Biden ordered the National Security Council to warn the Iranian government to stop plotting against Trump and former US officials, adding that the US would view any attempt on Trump's life as an act of war.

A White House official said Biden's strategy to counter Iran's deadly plot involves disrupting threats through safeguards as well as law enforcement actions. According to Security Council spokesman Sean Savett, Biden ordered “every resource” to protect Trump and provide agencies with information on threats to his security detail.

“We consider this a national and homeland security issue of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for this brazen threat,” Savat said in a statement. “If Iran attacks any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or who have served in the past, Iran will face serious consequences.”

Trump has begun mentioning the threat in settings such as press conferences and interviews.

“You are in danger now because of them and their challenge to me,” Trump told reporters at an Oct. 1 news conference in Milwaukee. Reflecting back to Butler, he described how the bullet that grazed his ear could have done more damage if he hadn't turned his head to look at the screen.

“If I hadn't made that turn, I wouldn't be talking to you today,” Trump said.

Abigail Hauslohner and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.