As stated in the title…POTUS meets Putin, Kim Jong-un or whoever. Do both sides go through metal detectors? Could one or both be packing heat?
As a bonus, what happens if they throw down…say Kim throws a punch at Trump, or vice versa…do the respective security folks have a brawl, mini-gangwar, or what?
I am not sure about that, but since the have Diplomatic immunity, if they wanted to carry a gun, they would just put in their diplomatic case, which is immune to search.
Diplomats themselves are immune from search. They don’t have to put stuff in the diplomatic bag; they can put it in their pockets. But . . .
Trump and Kim don’t have diplomatic immunity. But . . .
They do have sovereign immunity, which in this regard confers the same benefit.
So, the answer is, they don’t go through any kind of security examination, unless they choose to.
If they think that throwing a punch is likely, they stay out of range. you’ll notice that in both the Aus and British parliaments, where there is strong gang membership, the two sides are separated by a table that is wide enough so that then can’t hit across with a sword. That’s why you don’t see the gang brawls that you sometimes see in other countries. The Korean border has a similar table, for similar reasons.
I don’t know if the American security would brawl if a punch was thrown, but I don’t expect the British, Aus, or Israeli security would brawl. They’re too professional. That is, they don’t really care. They aren’t there to stop the politicians punching each other, and they might actually find it amusing.
Who wouldn’t?
The US Secret Service is most certainly there to keep the President from being the victim of violence, and so if fighting were initiated by either side, my expectation would be that they would interpose themselves and physically hustle the President out of the room.
Security personnel don’t go through security screening, why would those they are there to protect? Why would a Secret Service agent go through a metal detector? Everyone already knows they’re armed.
Man, how awesome would it be if both Kim and Trump each secretly brought a knife into a summit meeting? And after they both draw, they agree to one of those “Beat It” fights where their forearms are tied together?
I’ll field this question: Very, very awesome.
If the OP has been answered well enough, I had a related question: to what degree would the guards of one nation’s leader fend off another nation’s leader from attacking theirs?
Imagine two high-ranking leaders who really hate each other and have had a terrible back and forth argument who start getting edgy and do a bit of shoving or throw water in each other’s faces. It might sound far-fetched but politicians do mix it up now and then.
I’m pretty sure the guards aren’t going to pull out guns and start shooting but wouldn’t it be pretty sticky for guards to start putting their hands on a different nations leader and shoving him around to get him to back off? There must be some sort of protocol in place for guards getting physical with high ranking people who’ve brought guards of their own…
Agreed, absent some bizarre Field of Golden Cloth scenario where both leaders specifically command their security details not to interfere.
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What would be so bad about that? Think about this: Suppose leaders at war with each other had to physically fistfight each other instead of sending their armies to fight against each other. Voila; instant world peace.
This seems like an easy way for Putin to conquer Europe.
Or for Wakanda to rule the planet. Which would not be a bad thing…
Watch a bench-clearing brawl in baseball or football. There may be a punch or two thrown by these guys, but for the most part, they’re more level-headed than the guy who was just hit by a pitch or tackled late, they tend to square up & separate the combatants rather than escalate the scrum. I assume professional security personal who’s job it is to physically defend someone would do this more than an athlete.
Throwing water in someone’s face is aggressive & humiliating but hardly life threatening. Even throwing a punch typically does not any more than some pain or maybe a broken jaw; yes, occasionally someone has died from a single punch, but that’s the exception rather than the norm. I’m not sure use of force protocols allow them to break out guns rather than isolating & removing their charge.
maybe, but when he expanded to North America, he might have trouble when he had to go up against Justin Trudeau, who’s notably fit and a boxer, and 20 years younger than Putin.