PALM BEACH, Fla. — WPTV has learned about a meeting scheduled this week involving the protection of President-elect Donald Trump as his second term in office is set to begin in a couple of months.
We're learning that the meeting will happen on Wednesday and involve the U.S. Secret Service and law enforcement officials.
WPTV reporter Michael Hoffman sat down with a former Special Agent with the FBI to learn what that security plan could look like in Palm Beach County.
It's no secret that the Secret Service and layers of heightened security have become just another part of life in Palm Beach County. But within those layers, there are federal, state and local law enforcement lending a hand with resources.
It's causing more and more blocked roads and detours to protect the president-elect.
"Well, I can tell you, I'm glad for it," Mar-a-Lago visitor David Alibrandi said. "They've got to step up the security."
Laura and Donald Murphy, snowbirds from Long Island, enjoy driving by the "Winter White House" to snap a few pictures whenever they're in town.
"It's such a beautiful place and maybe get a glimpse of him," Donald Murphy said.
But their trip on Tuesday was less than ideal once they saw all the security.
"It was a little frustrating because we like to see the front of Mar-a-Lago," Murphy said.
It's a concern and a cost to Palm Beach County.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told WPTV reporter Zitlali Solache it's costing his agency $200,000 each day to protect Trump.
Wednesday's meeting will involve the Secret Service, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the town of Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago officials.
While the agenda remains unclear, Hoffman sat down with former FBI Special Agent Stuart Kaplan to get his thoughts.
Kaplan said once he is sworn in as the 47th president, any changes to Trump's security won't come by the way of more personnel.
"The only thing that you're going to notice is the President-elect, the Secret Service basically requires threat assessments," Kaplan said. "He has all the assets and resources as if he is the sworn-in 47th president today on this very date. And so, you're not going to see much difference. The only difference you may see is the intelligence gathering with respect to state and local law enforcement once he becomes the sworn-in president, and especially here where in Palm Beach County, he's very visible, there's going to be an effort, even during normal, routine encounters with the general public, anything that may garner some intelligence for the Secret Service that information will be disseminated to the Secret Service as well as the Secret Service is going to disseminate to local and state law enforcement intelligence bulletins, just to make sure that they're working seamlessly to share information."
He told Hoffman that the Secret Service has learned from the first presidency and his recent candidacy.
"The difficulty with Donald J. Trump is he's very impromptu," Kaplan said. "He kind of goes off schedule, off cue, and so that does sometimes present a little bit of logistic issues for the Secret Service. It's another layer of things that the Secret Service has to be accounted for because we have to control who's coming onto the property, not only when the president is there, but people may want to gain access onto the property for nefarious reasons."
It's headaches that many like that the Murphys understand but tolerate.
"Especially after the two attempts on his life ... he needs all the protection he can get," the Murphys said. "Definitely."
WPTV has reached out to the sheriff's office, the town of Palm Beach, as well as the Secret Service, for any indication of what will be on the meeting agenda. However, they have not yet responded for comment.
