Mar-a-lago security details

Former President Donald Trump said that Mar-a-Lago, the Florida club that he often likes to call home, was raided by FBI officials, according to CBS News. Of course, members of the GOP haven’t taken too kindly to this sort, with some, like the Republican governor of Florida, Rick DeSantis, saying that it is un-American.

The former president’s fondness for the Florida club is no secret, but just how secure of a location is it really? 

Despite being Trump’s favourite place to vacation, the club is still open to other patrons when he was/is visiting. To that extent, managing security becomes a nightmare for the Secret Service, especially considering back in 2019 when the club was breached by Chinese nationals in two separate incidents. One in March, another in December.

That being said, during Trump’s tenure, Mar-a-Lago had a state of the art Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). This kind of room is extensively used by those in the US intelligence agencies, national security agencies, for presidential debriefings and sometimes by the armed forces. The Secret Service while setting up the SCIF would sweep the location for any kind of listening devices and continues to do so during their stay at the club.

At Trump’s Winter White House,  the SCIF was placed in the basement and was secure, according to author Ronald Kessler, who had spent time writing about Trump’s time in office. 

However, according to a former CIA analyst Lisa Ruth, locking down a place such as Mar-a-Lago puts the Secret Service in a “tough position” because of the club’s location and its classification as a “public place.” According to her, the club didn’t have “real security”. 

By and large, access to Trump is also restricted as the former president dines with a rope around his table. The Secret Service monitors that perimeter, and does not allow anybody to get near him unless the former commander-in-chief gave permission, Kessler had told WPTV News.