Trump requests military aircraft and vehicles amid Iran threat

Donald Trumpâ€s campaign requested military aircraft for Trump to fly in during the final weeks of the campaign, expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, ballistic glass pre-positioned in seven battleground states for the campaignâ€s use and an array of military vehicles to transport Trump, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.

The requests are extraordinary and unprecedented — no nominee in recent history has been ferried around in military planes ahead of an election. But the requests came after Trumpâ€s campaign advisers received briefings in which the government said Iran is still actively plotting to kill him, according to the emails reviewed by The Post and the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Trump advisers have grown concerned about drones and missiles, according to the people.

In the emails over the past two weeks from campaign manager Susie Wiles to Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the head of the Secret Service, she expressed displeasure with the Secret Service and said the campaign recently had to cancel a public event at the last minute because of a “lack of personnelâ€� from the Secret Service — instead only putting Trump in a small room with reporters. Wiles said Trumpâ€s campaign is being hampered in its planning because of threats, and expects to hold far more events in the final weeks of the campaign.

She also wrote that the U.S. government has not been able to provide what the campaign views as an extensive enough plan to protect Trump. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally, also wrote a letter to the Secret Service asking for military aircraft or additional protection for Trumpâ€s private plane, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.

Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Trump, declined to comment.

Secret Service officials did not answer specific questions about the discussions with the Trump campaign, but spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Trump is receiving “the highest levels of protection.� In a letter to the campaign, Rowe said the government is assessing what can be provided.

“Assistance from the Department of Defense is regularly provided for the former presidentâ€s protection, to include explosive ordnance disposal, canine units, and airlift transportation,â€� Guglielmi said. The Secret Service is also imposing temporary flight restrictions “over the former presidentâ€s residence and when he travels,â€� he added. “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.â€�

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

Former U.S. officials said they were unaware of any presidential nominee getting a military jet. One person who has served under multiple Republican administrations in senior roles said it would be “extraordinary� for the Secret Service to grant such a request.

Trumpâ€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 Republican nominee has already started traveling with additional planes, and officials are also taking the precaution of dividing his motorcade at times and putting Trump in nondescript planes that do not have his name on the side instead of his longtime 757 jet.

The requests escalate a months-long battle between Trumpâ€s team and the Secret Service, which has heightened after two assassination attempts on the former president. Granting such requests for a presidential candidate would be unprecedented, particularly a military plane to transport Trump. 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.

Trump and his team have grown frustrated with the Secret Service in recent months, even as they praise Trumpâ€s own security detail. The Secret Service has repeatedly escalated Trumpâ€s security, but not to levels the campaign wants, the people said.

There is no evidence tying Iran to either of the recent assassination attempts, the people said, but the FBI has not ruled out the possibility of a connection. U.S. spies have determined that Iranâ€s leaders are seeking to take revenge on U.S. officials including Trump whom they hold responsible for a strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020, but Iranâ€s ability to strike within the United States is limited, according to people briefed on the intelligence.

Trump has asked campaign advisers and U.S. government officials repeatedly whether Iran was behind the two gunmen who separately attempted to assassinate him on July 13 in Butler, Pa., and on Sept. 15 at Trumpâ€s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to people familiar with the briefing. Several of Trumpâ€s advisers have become convinced — even without evidence — that Iran was behind previous threats.

In June, undercover FBI agents met with a Pakistani man in Brooklyn who was seeking to hire hit men to assassinate an American politician on Iranâ€s behalf, according to charges unsealed in August. The foiled plot prompted national security officials to alert the Secret Service about unspecified Iranian threats to Trump. Authorities arrested the Pakistani man, Asif Merchant, 46, on July 12, the day before Trumpâ€s Butler rally.

Investigators have not established a motive for the Butler shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who opened fire from a nearby roof, grazing Trumpâ€s ear and killing one rallygoer before he was killed at the scene 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 the Butler investigation said there is no evidence pointing to foreign ties.

The Trump campaign is also dealing with the fallout from Iranian hackers who stole sensitive campaign documents and tried to release them through the media or share them with the Biden campaign, according to federal prosecutors. An indictment released Sept. 27 of three Iranian nationals alleged a wide-ranging, years-long effort that included targeting one of Trumpâ€s lawyers, former CIA officials and a former U.S. ambassador. In recent days, more campaign employees have been told they were targeted by the Iranians.

Trumpâ€s late-September visit to a college football game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., entailed the most protection he has had since leaving office, with bullet-resistant glass and 150 metal detectors deployed to the stadium, according to one of the people. For his return to Butler on Oct. 5, a row of shipping containers lined the perimeter of the venue to block the view from a passing road. The security forces on-site included drones, helicopters, undercover officers, snipers and tactical teams.

Iran makes no secret of its intention to seek to kill Trump, analysts note. An animated video showing a drone firing on Trump playing golf has resurfaced recently. The video was posted to Supreme Leader Ali Khameneiâ€s website on Jan. 14, 2022.

At the same time, notes former CIA official Norman Roule, “Iran is challenged by the fact that it lacks an extensive presence in the United States and is also under extensive scrutiny by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services and their foreign partners.�

Unable to easily insert their own personnel into the United States, the Iranians have had to resort to “third country nationals and criminals� to try to carry out assassinations, he said.

Iran has likely felt able to threaten the former president based in part, he said, “on the lack of serious consequences by the West for its lethal operations� against former U.S. officials, activists and journalists in the United States and Britain, Roule said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said the available evidence on Crooks and the golf course suspect appears to more closely match the profile of homegrown violent extremists whom the FBI has identified as a rising domestic terrorism threat.

“There was intelligence about a potential threat from Iran, but the shooter on July 13th had no connection,â€� Blumenthal said. “Iâ€m aware of no evidence at this time that the apparent would-be assassin in Florida had any tie to any other country.â€�

Iranâ€s desire for revenge is not new. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress in 2022 that his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, was still receiving round-the-clock government security.

Biden directed the National Security Council to warn Iranâ€s government to stop plotting against Trump and former U.S. officials, adding that the United States would view any attempts on Trumpâ€s life as an act of war.

A White House official said Bidenâ€s strategy to address Iranâ€s lethal plots includes protective measures as well as disrupting threats through law enforcement actions. Biden has directed “every resourceâ€� for Trumpâ€s protection and for agencies to provide threat information to his security detail, according to Security Council spokesman Sean Savett.

“We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats,� Savett said in a statement. “Should Iran attack any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences.�

Trump has started referencing the threats in settings such as news conferences and interviews.

“Youâ€re in danger right now because of them and their challenge to me,â€� Trump told reporters at an Oct. 1 news conference in Milwaukee. Reflecting on going back to Butler, he recounted how the bullet that grazed his ear might have done more damage had he not been turning his head to look at a screen.

“Had I not made that turn, I would not be speaking to you people today,� Trump said.

Abigail Hauslohner and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.