President Trump on Tuesday offered weak excuses for not attending Saturday’s memorial ceremonies in France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
By the way, when the helicopter couldn’t fly to the first cemetery in France because of almost zero visibility, I suggested driving. Secret Service said NO, too far from airport & big Paris shutdown. Speech next day at American Cemetery in pouring rain! Little reported-Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
While both excuses have slight merits in that Trump is almost certainly honest in saying that the Secret Service did not want him to attend the events, neither excuse ultimately passes full muster.
First off, it should be obvious that the HMX-1 U.S. Marine Corps squadron that flies the president has numerous aircraft capable of navigating harsh weather. The squadron’s pilots are also some of the finest in the military, trained in combat aviation as well as VIP transport. But in specific terms, the Blackhawk helicopters and Osprey tiltrotor aircraft that form part of the HMX-1 complement are designed to fly under enemy fire in the exact harsh conditions that existed on Saturday. Indeed, they are designed to fly in even harsher conditions. Using an array of terrain mapping, advanced GPS, and other measurement and identification instruments, the president’s pilots could have got him to his destination at very low risk. Absent countervailing excuse or some evidence of specific threat, had Trump insisted that they take him, they would have done so.
Neither is Trump’s motorcade excuse particularly compelling. For a start, many other world leaders took the same route to get to the Saturday ceremony. That means the route was secured and had been screened for explosives or other threats. While the Secret Service often requests rolling roadblocks of a much greater magnitude than other global protective agencies, it could have got Trump to his destination without them. This is exactly what happens when a U.S. president travels to London, for example. Even then, considering standing Secret Service protocols, we can also assume that plans were in place for motorcade travel to the speech site: The Secret Service always has multiple plans using multiple methods for presidential movements. The French authorities also maintain strong links with their U.S. counterparts and are keenly aware of domestic terrorist threat levels.
Yes, some might point at the protesters who ran into Trump’s motorcade route on Sunday and suggest that those incidents are evidence of Trump’s concerns being justified. But they are wrong. It is always possible that unarmed protesters will interfere with a motorcade. Security issues only arise if the motorcade is forced to stop or if an approaching individual is armed. In Sunday’s case, the nakedness of the protesters in question suggested otherwise! Had they posed a threat, the Secret Service would have contained them. As shown in the inauguration training video below, the Secret Service act on the assumption that unarmed protesters are diversions for attackers and will thus stay close to their protectees, allowing police officers, as in France, to arrest the unarmed individuals.
Regardless, the simple truth is that Trump could have made it to Saturday’s ceremonies had he really wanted to.
