WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The "winter White House" -- Mar-a-Lago -- is now former President Donald Trump's home as he settles into civilian life post-presidency.
The club, which doubles as Trump's registered address, could prove a difficult environment for the Secret Service to protect the former president on a full-time basis, Contact 5 has learned.
"Certainly, Mar-a-Lago presents unique challenges for security because it's a larger compound that's open to the president," former Secret Service agent Tim Miller said in an interview with Contact 5. "Ideally, you'd want a former president's home only accessed by the former president."
Miller spent years keeping president's safe during his tenure with the Secret Service.
During former President Bill Clinton's first inauguration, Miller "was a site agent responsible for setting up the security for the reviewing stand," he told Contact 5. "It was the only area of the parade route where President and Mrs. (Hillary) Clinton actually got out of the vehicles and walked."
Miller also protected several former presidents, serving on details for presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Clinton after each left the White House.
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"The Secret Service takes protecting the former president with the same seriousness as protecting a current president," Miller said. "Wherever they are, as best you can, you're implementing the protective bubble."
That bubble is now in South Florida, as Trump takes up residency in the town of Palm Beach.
"If a person is loved or hated, you know, by certain elements, it can create security challenges," Miller told Contact 5.
Miller could only speculate about extra resources needed to protect the former president in the current political climate of the country.
"I think with President Trump, I don't think it will be consistent with what we've seen in the past," he said.
Miller said he believes the Secret Service is "going to apply appropriate resources based on the nature of both intelligence and the overall protective situation."
"The Secret Service is going to have to be game ready, every day," Miller said. "Former presidents do what former presidents want to do. The Secret Service's mission is not to tell them where they can go. It's to support and secure them for where they choose to go."
With Trump now calling Palm Beach home, it might not be uncommon to see the agents in action.
"Now, for the rest of his life, he'll have a Secret Service detail," Miller said.
