The Next Secret Service Presidential Limo Might Be Based on a Cadillac Escalade
The presidential limo known as the 'Beast' might be getting an upgrade.
GM has made armored cars for American presidents for decades, and that relationship looks set to continue, according to Reuters, which says that Secret Service officials met GM officials last week to talk about new armored cars. The Secret Service confirmed as much in a post on social media on Friday.
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'As threats evolve, we continue to explore emerging technologies to ensure our armored vehicles provide the highest level of safety for our protectees,' the Secret Service said in a post. 'This week, Secret Service Director Sean Curran met with GM executives to discuss advancements that could benefit the next generation of armored SUVs.'
The next generation of armored SUVs are being developed in a process that apparently started in September, when GM got a contract worth as much as $40.8 million to build the cars. Of interest in the newest social media post, according to Reuters, is that an attached photo shows a Cadillac Escalade, though now President Trump 'often travels in an armored Chevrolet Suburban.'
No timeline was given for when a new 'Beast' will be delivered.
'Our engineering, protective operations, and technical security teams work for years to develop the state-of-the-art framework that is used to produce these highly advanced vehicles,' a Secret Service spokesperson told Reuters.
Before Cadillacs, presidents rode in a series of Lincolns, including Cosmopolitans, Continentals, and Town Cars. Beginning in 1984, President Ronald Reagan rode in a Cadillac Fleetwood, as did President Bill Clinton. Since 2001, presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden have all been driven in custom Cadillacs specially developed by GM.
The current 'Beast' is said to produce its own environment inside, sealed from the world. It is also said to weigh 10 tons, have one-foot thick doors, and have extra blood on hand for the president. Some other rumored features, like oil slicks and smoke screens, seem more pulled from the world of spy movies. The Secret Service does not discuss specifics because it is secret, but the cars have come a long way from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 'Sunshine Special.'
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Boston Globe
19 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump charts new territory in bypassing Newsom to deploy National Guard
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Trump invoked a section of the US code that allows the president to bypass a governor's authority over the National Guard and call those troops into federal service when he considers it necessary to repel an invasion or suppress a rebellion, the law states. California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has sharply criticized the move, saying state and local authorities have the situation under control and accusing Trump of attempting to create a 'spectacle.' Advertisement The directive, announced by the White House late Saturday, came after some protests against immigration raids turned violent, with protesters setting cars aflame and lighting fireworks, and law enforcement in tactical gear using tear gas and stun grenades. Trump claimed in his executive order that the unrest in Southern California was prohibiting the execution of immigration enforcement and therefore met the definition of a rebellion. Advertisement Legal experts said they expect Trump's executive order to draw legal challenges. On Sunday, Newsom asked the Trump administration to rescind his deployment of the National Guard, saying the administration had not followed proper legal procedure in sending them to the state. Trump said the National Guard troops would be used to 'temporarily' protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and 'other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.' 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'President Trump's deployment of federalized National Guard troops in response to protests is unnecessary, inflammatory, and an abuse of power,' Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. 'By taking this action, the Trump administration is putting Angelenos in danger, creating legal and ethical jeopardy for troops, and recklessly undermining our foundational democratic principle that the military should not police civilians.' Goitein said Trump's move to invoke only the federal service law might be calculated to try to avoid any political fallout from invoking the Insurrection Act, or it's merely a prelude to doing so. 'This is charting new ground here, to have a president try to uncouple these authorities,' Goitein said. 'There's a question here whether he is essentially trying to deploy the powers of the Insurrection Act without invoking it.' 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Fox News
19 minutes ago
- Fox News
JONATHAN TURLEY: Democrats' rabid anti-ICE resistance in LA against Trump could backfire
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Fox News
19 minutes ago
- Fox News
Liberals, anti-Trump figures bash ABC for suspending Terry Moran over anti-Trump social media rant
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