An elite Air Force bomb squad is set to descend on GOP President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida to provide protection as Trump prepares to take office.
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight of the 96th Civil Engineer Group will provide protection at Mar-a-Lago, since Trump plans to spend some holiday time down south before the inauguration in late January, Military.com reports.
“Being here in Florida, the President-elect also has a summer home here in Florida, so we will also be supporting that,” Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Schott told Military.com.
It’s unclear how large the deployment will be, but Schott added that it will not be nearly as large as when Pope Francis visited the United States in 2015. The biggest event of 2017 in terms of security will be Trump’s inauguration, which will call for 170-200 explosive ordinance disposal teams from all services, Schott explained.
Trump is planning to visit Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Thanksgiving, Politico reported Monday, and he may make the trek starting as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Hints of a trip emerged Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced there will be flight restrictions around Mar-a-Lago spanning from Tuesday to Friday. While the Palm Beach International Airport will still be allowed to operated with flights coming in and out, other aircraft are prohibited from flying under 3,000 feet in a circle measured seven miles across.
Mar-a-Lago is located near the center of the flight restriction area.
“The Federal Aviation Administration will engage with the U.S. Secret Service about flight restrictions that will be put in place during the transition and for future Presidential visits to Palm Beach, Florida. We will work to minimize the impact on commercial and general aviation,” FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac told Palm Beach Post.
Trump’s visit to Mar-a-Lago will be his first since winning the presidential election Nov. 8.
In related events, Trump was previously locked in legal battles with Palm Beach County regarding airplane traffic flying over Mar-a-Lago. Trump sued for $100 million, but decided to drop the case last week, although the county had to fork over $800,000 just to fight the suit.
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