Would Secret Service Follow Trump to Prison? What We Know

• Former agency officials have speculated that the Secret Service would follow former President Donald Trump to prison to protect him.
• Trump is the first current or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges and is expected to make his court appearance this week in Manhattan.

As former President Donald Trump heads from his home in Florida to New York for his expected court appearance this week, the logistics surrounding what prison time looks like for a former White House occupant remains murky.

Last week, Trump became the first current or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges. Although the indictment remains sealed, it's been reported that Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud for hush money payments allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump's legal team has said that he plans to mount a legal challenge to the charges, but in the case that he loses, he could face time behind bars. Speculations that Trump will end up in prison have raised questions about whether Secret Service agents will follow him there.

Under the Former Presidents Act, which was signed into law in 1958, all living former presidents are entitled to receive lifetime Secret Service protection unless they decline protection. For example, Richard Nixon relinquished his protection in 1985—a year after his wife, former First Lady Pat Nixon made the decision to drop hers. He remains the only president to do so.

Former agency officials have speculated that it's likely Secret Service agents would go with Trump to protect him in prison.

One unnamed former official told Business Insider that while there wouldn't be protective detail inside a cell with Trump, it's likely there would be at least one agent on the property.

Mike Lawlor, an associate professor at the University of New Haven, agreed, telling the Daily Mail that Trump would probably "have one or two secret service details sitting outside his cell with the correctional officers" if he were to serve prison time.

The spouses and children of former presidents also retain Secret Service protection after a presidency, with spouses remaining protected unless they re-marry and children remaining protected until the age of 16. Unless Congress passes a law amending the federal law, even incarcerated former presidents and first ladies would continue to receive protective detail.

For example, under the Clinton administration, Congress passed a law that reduced lifetime protections for former presidents to 10 years after leaving the White House. It was changed back during the Obama administration.

Michele Deitch, an expert on prison oversight at the University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs, told Business Insider that it would especially likely for Secret Service to follow Trump, given that a former president would "have a target on his back."

"Assassination threats are what the Secret Service are thinking of all the time, it is a lifetime job," Lawlor said.

Security plans for Trump continue to remain underway by several law enforcement agencies. On Monday, the New York Police Department (NYPD) held a press conference to discuss the preparations ahead of Trump's arraignment.

While New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that "there has been no specific, credible threats to our city at this time," and warned people against violence.

"Violence and destruction are not part of legitimate, lawful expression, and it will never be tolerated in our city," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell echoed during the briefing.

Newsweek reached out to the Secret Service via email for comment.