Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants dedicated to serving him over serving their country, and I was wondering if that disturbing influence has extended itself to the U.S. Secret Service. The current Director, picked by Trump, is James M. Murray(the third person to hold that position since Trump took office). The Secret Service is a part of Homeland Security, whose Director is Chad Wolf(the fifth person to hold that position since Trump took office), and by this time I can only assume that both of these men know that Trump expects blind obedience from them. Given this information, how sure can we be that the agents assigned to him will serve their country and not Trump if he goes rogue in some way?
I am pretty sure they give Trump no personal loyalty (any more than they would Obama or Bush) and just are professional. That is, professional enough to take a bullet for him as long as he’s president, and also professional enough to forcibly drag him out of the Oval Office if he refuses to leave at 12:01 noon Inauguration Day once ex-president.
Given the words and/or actions of others under his influence, why are you “pretty sure”?
I would like some reassurance that this rigorous training is still going on, considering who is running both Homeland Security and the U.S.S.S.
I’m curious as to what sort of going rogue you have in mind.
It’s always been my understanding that the Secret Service has extensive training and that there is very vigorous weeding out process that would keep the type of individuals who would protect a President, any President, who goes rogue at the expense of the nation out from ever being in the position to do so much damage.
But I think the OP is worried that the president could appoint a Director who would change or do away with that training and weeding-out process.
Exactly.
Sure, and President Trump could try to appoint Jared Kushner as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and then demand that all members of the U.S. military swear a personal oath of loyalty to him, and then declare himself God-Emperor. As of this writing, none of that has actually happened, though.
And, as of this writing, while the Secret Service Director is a Presidential appointee, the rank and file agents are all career civil service professionals. There’s no way to know what any individual Secret Service agent’s personal loyalties are, of course. But what reason is there to believe that any of them have any personal loyalty to Donald Trump that would override their loyalty to their service, their country, and the U.S. Constitution?
I fear it might depend on how much time in the USSS the special agent has. Officially, their loyalty should be to the Office and Officeholder of POTUS. If necessary, I’d rather see a former POTUS who was insistent on remaining after the inauguration of his replacement be sedated and wheeled out of the Executive Mansion in a wheelchair or gurney to an ambulance or no rear window van for “treatment for exhaustion” then escorted out in handcuffs.
I suspect many agents on the Executive Protection Detail have considered their oath to the Constitution and have thought about contingency plans.
Even if he stayed in the Oval Office, that wouldn’t make him still president.
Why do you think that the director is the entire organization? Directors come and go, but the civil servant professionals basically go on with their duties regardless. This has always been the case, and I’ve seen zero indication that this has fundamentally changed because Trump(tm…arr)! You can see this dynamic in every administration…directors get appointed, do their thing, then when a new administration comes in, new ones are selected. And the organization goes on pretty much as before, as they always have. The example I think of for this is the State Department, though you could look at DOE, DOD, or your own USSS example.
This is one of those discussions where you’d need to show extraordinary proof if you want to make a compelling case as to why, this time, it would be any different than it’s always been. Do you have any indications that the rank and file secret service professionals have fundamentally changed their perceptions or loyalties over and above the ones they have for any US president? Pointing at the appointed director as some sort of proof of something isn’t really compelling, as they have always been just transitory entities who think and act like they are the organization, but really aren’t and aren’t thought of as more than the transitory annoyances to the career professionals who make up the backbone and are the ones who give substance to the organization.
I didn’t present proof at all.
I presented facts, and I asked questions as to whether those facts might effect how the Secret Service Agents assigned to the President view their job.
Trump has reasons to subvert other government organizations from doing their jobs. But the Secret Service’s actual job is to protect him from assassination attempts, up to and including agents taking a bullet meant for him. How could Secret Service agents serve him more than that?
Covering up evidence of wrong-doing, assisting in hiding him/letting him leave the country if circumstances warrant, etc.
So what are the expectations of the Secret Service “normally”? Are they encouraged to report wrongdoing by the president (I doubt it, because it could compromise their primary mission)? If the President comes up to them with a smoking gun and says, “get rid of this for me,” are they under any obligation to comply? To (refuse to) testify after the fact? If the President (while he is president) demands to leave the country for what is obviously selfish reasons, are his agents obligated to let him (due to primary obligation), or are they allowed/bound to stop him?
I also wonder what’s in it for the agents to go along with the OP’s speculations. How many true believers do you think are among Trump’s entourage?
No, but even after he is president, he is entitled to Secret Service protection for life. So the question about the loyalty of his Secret Service detail would still be relevant, even if the scenario presented is beyond unlikely.
An agent doesn’t get to guard the president until they’ve been in the Secret Service for significant number of years, more than enough for their training to far predate Trump. Thank goodness.
I will stop now so I don’t veer off into the political and get booed for being in the wrong thread.
The people that surround Trump… and pull his strings… are very loyal to their country…which isn’t the United States by the way. Trump not only has the Secret Service protecting him but several other organizations… He is Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the US… and considering what can begin today, I am sure his buddy Bibi has Mossad looking after him. Checks and balances, except the Pretorian Guards killed Tiberius and put Caligula on the Throne…
Not a single poster has given a convincing reason why the Secret Service would have personal loyalty to Trump once he’s left office. Why would they? Not only has the guy had a jerk reputation for decades, but he, as ex-president, would have absolutely zero power, no more than you or I as private citizens. What’s in it for them? Bribery money out of Trump’s remaining personal wealth?
There is every reason for SS agents to, well, switch to supporting Biden as they have for every presidential transition.