Accommodation New Zealand introduces
Move over, Air Force One - a new armored vehicle outfitted for presidential protection is in town, this one specifically for golf outings.
The vehicle specifically designed for ballistic protection, dubbed "Golf Force One," seemingly made its public debut during a round of golf between President Donald Trump and his son, Eric, at the Trump golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, over the weekend.
The White House confirmed "Golf Force One" is "part of the presidential fleet of specialty vehicles," but did not share any further details.
It comes 10 months after an assassination attempt on Trump while he was playing golf at his Florida course.
According to the General Services Administration, a Polaris UTV can be outfitted by Chicago company Scaletta Armor with an "add-on armor kit to Polaris XP 1000 Ranger UTV with protection scalable to mission." The kit costs around $190,000.
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Trump was in Scotland for a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
During the golf outing, Trump was seen cruising around in a regular golf cart, with the armored vehicle following a fleet of carts carrying Secret Service agents.
The president is known to enjoy driving his own cart, but the UTV was likely on hand in case of an emergency requiring additional protection in such a wide-open space.
During the last Trump assassination attempt - on Sept. 15, 2024 at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida - a Secret Service agent conducting a sweep saw a man hiding in the brush along the fence line of the sixth hole.
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"The agent observed the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him," a Justice Department press release suggested. "As the agent began backing away, he saw the rifle barrel move, and the agent fired at [Ryan Wesley] Routh."
That came after last July when shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at the president during a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, killing an attendee behind Trump.
In 2020, Iran posted a digitized video of a drone targeting Trump on a golf course in a "vengeance" strike over the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
"Golf Force One" joins a fleet of armored vehicles that includes the Beast, the 10-ton mobile fortress equipped with walls eight inches thick and layered, five-inch windows of reinforced glass that can stop high-caliber rounds. It's capable of distributing tear gas, grenades, and pump-action shotguns.
