Donald Trump shared a “strange story” about an incident involving a Secret Service agent attempting to sneak their spouse onto an overseas trip with the president.
While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday, the president was asked about a report that a Secret Service agent tried to get his wife on board a support flight accompanying Trump to Scotland.
“I just heard that,” Trump replied to the reporter who asked. “That’s a weird deal. He was going to leave the wife in the car?”
“Wouldn’t you think that might be a little dangerous?” he added, chuckling. “I don’t know if that has proper compression. I don’t know. That’s a strange one.”
“I just heard that two minutes ago,” he added. “I think Sean’s taking care of it,” he added, ostensibly referring to Sean Curran, director of the Secret Service.
“Is that a serious story?” Trump asked the reporter. “They were gonna keep her in the car and she was gonna be in a freighter?”
“Well, you tell me the details,” the reporter replied.
Trump said he didn’t want to get involved, “but it’s a strange story.”
The Secret Service said it is conducting an investigation into the matter, but has only shared limited details so far.
In a statement to the Daily Beast on Monday, a Secret Service spokesperson said the agency is “conducting a personnel investigation after an employee attempted to invite his spouse - a member of the United States Air Force - aboard a mission support flight.”
“The aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force, was being used by the Secret Service to transport personnel and equipment,” the statement said. “Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight.”
“No Secret Service protectees were aboard and there was no impact to our overseas protective operations,” the statement concluded.
Asked to confirm additional details, such as where the plane was headed, the spokesperson told the Daily Beast no further information could be disclosed while the investigation was playing out.
The statement was issued after Susan Crabtree, a political correspondent for the conservative-leaning RealClearPolitics site, reported that a Secret Service agent tried to “smuggle” his wife onto a car plane, a cargo aircraft used to transport vehicles, headed for Scotland with Trump’s security detail.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Secret Service and the White House for comment on Trump’s remarks.
