Washington Post – by Carol D. Leonnig and David Nakamura
Update: The White House has cancelled the safari for this trip.
Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency.
The first family is making back-to-back stops from June 26 to July 3 in three countries where U.S. officials are providing nearly all the resources, rather than depending heavily on local police forces, military authorities or hospitals for assistance.
The president and first lady had also planned to take a Tanzanian safari as part of the trip, which would have required the president’s special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-caliber rounds that could neutralize cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat, according to the planning document.
But officials said Thursday that the safari had been canceled in favor of a trip to Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner.
When The Post first asked White House officials about the safari last week, they said no final decision had been made. A White House official said Thursday that the cancellation was not related to The Post’s inquiries.
“We do not have a limitless supply of assets to support presidential missions, and we prioritized a visit to Robben Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania,” said spokesman Josh Earnest. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t do both.”
Internal administration documents circulated in April show that the Obama family was scheduled to go to both Robben Island and the safari park, according to a person familiar with the plans.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also made trips to multiple African nations involving similarly laborious preparations. Bush went in 2003 and 2008, bringing his wife on both occasions. Bush’s two daughters went along on the first trip, which included a safari at a game preserve on the Botswana-South Africa border.
the U.S. government at least $42.7 million. Most of that was incurred by the military, which made 98 airlift missions to transport personnel and vehicles, and set up temporary medical evacuation units in five countries.That figure did not include costs borne by the Secret Service, which were considered classified.Obama’s trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, according to one person familiar with the journey, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. The Secret Service planning document, which was provided to The Post by a person who is concerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip, does not specify costs.“The infrastructure that accompanies the president’s travels is beyond our control,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. “The security requirements are not White House-driven, they are Secret Service-driven.”
Current and former government security officials involved in presidential trips said White House staff also help determine what’s required, because they plan the visits and parameters. The Secret Service and military respond to that itinerary by providing what their agencies consider the required security.
White House officials said the trip was long overdue, marking Obama’s first visit as president to sub-Saharan Africa aside from a 22-hour stopover in Ghana in 2009. The emerging democracies on the itinerary are crucial partners in regional security conflicts, Rhodes said.
Obama will hold bilateral meetings with each country’s leader and seek to forge stronger economic ties at a time when China is investing heavily in Africa. He also will highlight global health programs, including HIV/AIDS prevention.
The first lady, who toured South Africa and Botswana without the president in 2011, will headline some events on her own during the week. The stops will add to the logistical challenges, because she will require her own security detail and vehicles, the planning document shows.
Officials said the Secret Service does not want the president traveling anywhere without a top-rated trauma center nearby. The White House medical unit makes decisions about which foreign hospitals meet its standards when it makes advance visits to the locations for planned trips, officials said.
In much of the developing world, the U.S. Navy provides a “floating hospital” on an aircraft carrier or amphibious ship nearby, officials said.
“This is what you need to support the American presidency,” Atkiss said of the requirements, “regardless of who the president is.”
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Alice Crites contributed to this report.
ABSURD! Such fanfare, and expense, for what? Is he paranoid for good reason?
Look at the security that this shyt for brains traitor in thief has for himself and his family while he want to disarm real ameriKans so they cannot defend themselves. These fools are out of control and need to be stopped or this country is finished!
What, no bullet proof sedan chair
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, IF WE ALL WISH HARD ENOUGH. Maybe some 10 year old second cousin with an AK will take a pot shot and end our travails!
Shite! I just woke up. What a marvelous dream!
This puppet is afraid to travel anywhere. Hope they keep him in Africa. Not, they don’t want him either. If he was on the right path he would be loved and protected by his own followers. Ain’t happening here, is it? Only a hated/detested ruler needs so much protection. Stay in Africa Seotoro.
P.S. Play basketball with a lion while you’re there.
This is so laughable. It’s ironic that the most powerful dictator in the world now still needs to have security everywhere he goes. For someone who believes he is so free, he sure likes to imprison himself behind a wall of metal everywhere he goes.
Gee, if everyone believes he is doing the right thing (like his narcissistic mind is telling him), what does he have to be afraid of? How come no police are checking him out or frisking him? If he has nothing to hide, then what is he afraid of? Where’s the transparency, Ocrapo? And how come the countries of Africa don’t do something while he is there, rather than bowing down to him like a world king. I would spit on that bastard, if I saw him.
Kiss my ass, Ocrapo because I think I missed a spot after performing number two in the toilet.
“Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, so they can intervene quickly if an errant plane gets too close.”
OMG! Someone is really in fear for his life. At least we know if he was missed, no one would care. In fact, they may be celebrating.
Aircraft around your area 24 hours? Really? And you call that safari trip a vacation? I think you’ll scare away the lions and tigers. Not much of a fun vacation when you are being watched all the time, is it now, Odumba?
I still say the bastard has 2 or 3 clones lying around somewhere in case of emergencies. Hitlery Clinton is no exception to that, either.