Two days after the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, US President Donald Trump was safely evacuated after a man armed with multiple weapons opened fire outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel, where the annual event was being held.
Secret Service agents, along with other security personnel, immediately moved to protect the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table. They were swiftly escorted out of the ballroom, and all those present were reported safe.
The latest incident has once again triggered debate over the scale and structure of security provided to Donald Trump.
How much security does Donald Trump get?
According to BBC News data from 2024, the exact number of agents assigned to Trump is not publicly disclosed. However, Ronald Kessler, an author and expert on the Secret Service, estimates that around 80 agents are typically assigned to a former president at any given time.
He further explained that approximately 300 agents are deployed for the sitting president and vice president, while former presidents are generally protected by around 90 to 100 personnel in total. These numbers represent overall staffing, not agents accompanying the individual at all times.
“The shift detail is always the same. there is close protection officers near the president - but then there’s counter-sniper teams, counter-assault teams, counter-surveillance teams,” said Michael Matranga, who served 12 years in the Secret Service during Barack Obama’s presidency.
He added that while former presidents do not typically receive these additional layers of protection on a daily basis, Donald Trump does.
What is the Secret Service budget?
As per BBC report, the US Secret Service operated with a budget of 3.1 billion dollars in the 2024 financial year, reflecting a 9 per cent increase over the previous year.
More than 1 billion dollars of this budget was allocated to “Protection of Persons and Facilities”.
The agency currently has around 8,000 employees, including special agents, administrative staff, and technical personnel.
Nearly half of the workforce (3,671 employees) are engaged full-time in Protective Operations.
A decade ago, about 4,027 personnel were assigned to protect the president and other senior officials, according to NBC News.
In 2017, Congress considered allocating more than 120 million dollars to cover security costs for President Donald Trump and his family under a bipartisan spending agreement, according to The New York Times.
Separately, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department estimated it spent around 60,000 dollars per day in overtime to protect the President during his visits to Mar-a-Lago, often referred to as the “Winter White House.”
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Reuters also reported that New York City spent more than 1,00,000 dollars per day to protect Trump’s family, rising up to 3,00,000 dollars when the President was in the city, based on 2017 data.