Locals in India are warning that President Trump will need protection from wild monkeys during his trip to the country later this month.
Up to 700 rhesus macaques roam around, sometimes in troops, near the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Trump is slated to arrive in India on Monday, meeting with the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
“The terror of the monkeys is so pervasive that women and children are scared of going up on the roof of their houses, which have almost been taken over by monkeys,” an Agra resident told India Today. “If such a large troop of monkeys attacks Donald Trump’s entourage, it will be a disaster.”
Precautions will be taken to shield the president from the animals. Local police will be armed with slingshots to scare off the monkeys, but the Secret Service will be tasked with the brunt of Trump’s protection.
“The monkeys get frightened by just seeing us brandishing slingshots and run away,” Taj Mahal security head Brij Bhushan said.
A police official said, however, that while the hand-held catapults frighten individual monkeys, “when it comes to whole troops of monkeys, the catapult is completely ineffective.”
Tourists visiting the 17th-century mausoleum have a history of being attacked by the rogue primates. In 2018, two French tourists were attacked while taking a selfie, and a 12-day-old baby was snatched and killed.
The country is currently trying to clean up the area ahead of Trump’s landing. Freshwater is being pumped into the polluted Yamuna River to cut down on its smell, and walls are being built to hide unsightly areas.
