When you are the adult son of a sitting president, you are entitled to protection by the Secret Service for as long as your parent is in office. Donald Trump Jr., our president’s oldest son, has decided he no longer wants that protection, according to multiple reports published Monday evening.
The younger Trump is an executive at the Trump Organization and lives in New York. The New York Times was first to report that a senior Trump administration official said that the Secret Service stopped protecting Trump Jr. last week because he is seeking a level of privacy that he can’t expect with a trail of agents following behind him.
Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan declined to comment to the Times as to whether or not Secret Service will still be protecting Trump Jr.’s wife, Vanessa, and their five children.
“To ensure the safety and security of our protectees and their families, we will not confirm who is currently receiving Secret Service protection,” Milhoan said.
The younger Trump’s decision is bringing up more questions than answers. It’s rare for members of a president’s family to decline the protection, partly because they are often seen as targets for those who may have a vendetta against the president.
There have been a lot of arguments about the expense taxpayers are bearing to protect the president’s large extended family, but it is highly unlikely that that is what is driving Trump Jr.’s decision.
Interestingly, Trump Jr.’s decision to drop his 24-hour Secret Service protection came on the same day that Kellyanne Conway decided to drop hers as well. And Twitter had a lot of theories about why that might be.
It was revealed earlier Monday that U.S. authorities had wiretapped Paul Manafort during the time he was acting as the senior Trump campaign manager in 2016. After federal agents served a search warrant on Manafort’s home in early July, prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly threatened Manafort with an impending indictment.
Is it possible that Trump Jr. is dumping his Secret Service protection because he has something to hide? After all, Secret Service agents are considered to be law enforcement, and they could be called to testify about things they may have heard.
It’s all very intriguing, and just the latest episode in the shit show that is this presidential administration that, at this point, could be considered a criminal enterprise.
Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of White House Apprentice.