‘No Fatties’: Trump Wanted Only Buff Secret Service for Himself and His Family, New Book Claims
Drew Angerer, Getty
According to a new book from Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, some members of the Trump family became “inappropriately close” with the Secret Service agents tasked with protecting them. And ex-President Donald Trump was pretty particular about their physiques, too.
Out this week, Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service purports to cover decades of Secret Service history, from the time of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and up to the January 6 Capitol breach.
The excerpts making the promotional rounds on Tuesday specifically pertain to the tenure of Trump and the protection of his family members, and they certainly make for attention-grabbing content.
The Guardian provides some examples from their advance copy, which alleges “inappropriately close” relationships between agents and both Vanessa Trump, the estranged wife of Donald Trump Jr., and the former president’s daughter Tiffany Trump.
Vanessa Trump filed for an uncontested divorce in March 2018. Leonnig reports that the agent concerned did not face disciplinary action as neither he nor the agency were official guardians of Vanessa Trump at that point.
Leonnig also writes that Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter with his second wife, Marla Maples, broke up with a boyfriend and “began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail”.
Secret Service leaders, the book says, “became concerned at how close Tiffany appeared to be getting to the tall, dark and handsome agent”.
Business Insider outlines how Donald Trump didn’t want overweight agents watching over his family’s well-being, on the grounds that it could hinder their ability to perform.
“I want these fat guys off my detail,” Trump once said, according to an excerpt of Leonnig’s book obtained by The Guardian. “How are they going to protect me and my family if they can’t run down the street?”
He may have been confused about those who are assigned to office roles, as opposed agents who would normally be assigned to protect him, according to the book.
The agency has rigorous fitness standards for agents in the field, with tests involving push-ups, chin-ups, sit-ups, and a timed 1.5-mile run, according to the Secret Service’s website.
It wasn’t just weight, though. Apparently, height was a factor, and “the president did repeatedly seek to remove Secret Service staff he deemed to be overweight or too short for the job.”
The Secret Service has suffered both professional and public relations losses over the years. Not sure being Lilliputian would count as one of them, but … we’ll see how the book turns out.
