Long before former Vice President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, President
Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferal of power after the
election? … Well we're going to have to see what happens."
Before the election results were announced, one UC Irvine School of Law professor told
The Atlantic,
"We could well see a protracted post-election struggle in the courts and the streets if
the results are close. The kind of election meltdown we could see would be much worse
than 2000's Bush v. Gore case."
As of November 10th, Trump has yet to concede. If he refuses to vacate the Oval Office, Biden
has said that authorities will, quote, "escort him from the White House with great dispatch,"
according to The Atlantic.
Once a president's time in the Oval Office is up, there are a variety of rules they must
follow. While following the rules was never Trump's thing, these are the stipulations
he must adhere to now that he's lost his place in the White House.
Although the president has become infamous for slamming his foes on social media, he's
technically supposed to curb his rhetoric according to an unwritten rule to not bad-mouth
the sitting president, according to The New York Times.
In addition, while Trump is probably used to being chauffeured around, he won't even
have the option of hitting the road solo any longer. Former presidents are not allowed
to drive because of the lifelong Secret Service detail that comes with being an ex-president.
Since American officials are a constant target, the Secret Service must be in charge at all
times. To date, Lyndon B. Johnson was the last president to drive on the open road.
Former president George W. Bush told Jay Leno he's only allowed to drive on his private
property in the safest of conditions. Other than that, presidents must be driven everywhere
by Secret Service agents who are trained in, quote, "evasive and defensive driving maneuvers."
While the intelligence community has received some flack about snooping through the devices
of U.S. citizens, the protocol is often necessary for former and current presidents. The Secret
Service got exempt from warrant laws in regard to "stingray" devices that can monitor a cell
phone's location, according to The Hill.
Despite seemingly understanding the ins and outs of Twitter, Trump may not have to worry
about this rule since he isn't known for being computer-savvy.
"Nobody knows more about technology, this type of technology certainly, than I do."
After he made remarks about Googling himself, Times correspondent Maggie Haberman tweeted,
"He doesn't use a computer. Someone is doing the googling but not him."
"So I love your computers but we're also looking at others, alright?"
In addition to having his technology combed through, Trump's mail must be searched by
Secret Service agents before packages and letters ever land in his hands. While the
measure may sound extreme, you never know what could be inside a random box.
Most recently, the Secret Service identified explosives in packages sent to presidents
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, along with several other targets in 2018, according to
Bloomberg Law.
Trump may be critical of the United States Postal Service, but the branch also takes
steps to ensure that the contents of each package don't pose any danger. Through a program
called Dangerous Mail Investigations, they have a right to monitor all packages no matter
who the recipient may be.
In addition to public events and transportation, the Secret Service is on the job 24/7, every
day of the year. Since a former president is always being watched, former Secret Service
agent Jonathan Wackrow called the job "the most intrusive thing that anyone could ever
experience," in an interview with NBC News. He added,
"You put a price tag on anything around the president, then you're putting a price tag
on his life, and that is priceless."
Even on intimate holidays, Secret Service agents are always around, sacrificing their
lives and being apart from their own families to protect America's finest. Wackrow continued,
"We experience parts of your life, but we're also there in those private times when things
aren't good — family arguments, family loss. [...] We're there 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year."
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