This youtube clip shows the presidential motorcade leaving the Jay Leno show. Turn the volume down to get rid of the annoying soundtrack. Skip to about 1:20. Third car out is (I assume) the president, then there’s another big car. Then more police but then come 3 longish white vans with blacked out windows. Then more police then 3 more of these vans.
Who’s in them? Staff? Secret service? Special forces?
Then right at the end, after the last police car has turned the corner, two mysterious cars speed off after them. Who were these guys?
I drove a car once in George H.W. Bush’s motorcade, when he visited Pittsburgh. The car I drove carried network White House correspondents and print reporters - it wasn’t an essential car in the motorcade. The Secret Service told us that if serious stuff went down they would leave us behind in a cloud of dust.
Other cars carried a security detail, essential staff, and communications gear necessary for the president’s role as commander-in-chief. Streets were cleared ahead and behind the motorcade as a precaution.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the nonessential cars have been removed from this process and the whole thing was firmed up since 9/11. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they stopped letting twenty-two year old volunteers into the motorcade, no matter how well they were vetted. I can’t confirm this, but it would make sense.