That’s a good boy…or girl…or robot.
Security is no doubt tight around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate these days. Not only was Trump recently re-elected President of the United States, but there have also been several attempts on his life already this year, including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania over the summer and the arrest of a man on one of Trump’s golf courses who was attempting to kill the former/future president.
The Department of Justice also recently revealed that they had disrupted a plot from an Iranian official who had ordered agents in the United States to assassinate Trump before his inauguration next year. So at this point, the Secret Service – and Trump himself – can’t be too careful when it comes to security for the future President.
Ahead of the inauguration on January 20, Trump is of course spending a lot of time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. And the club presents its own challenges for protecting the president – so it appears they’ve had to bring in some special resources.
Since the election, a robot dog named Spot has been…well, spotted…patrolling the grounds at Mar-a-Lago, a bizarre sight as children can often be seen playing on the lawn beside it.
NEW: Donald Trump's robot dog protects while a group of children play at Mar-a-Lago.
The dog has been patrolling for weeks and joined the team after the election to add another level of protection for Trump.
The dog was made by Boston Dynamics and is equipped with… pic.twitter.com/k6yzVmSuQf
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 2, 2024
The Secret Service confirmed that the dog is part of their measures to protect Trump at his home, revealing that Spot is equipped with special surveillance technology to help them out:
“Safeguarding the President-elect is a top priority. The robotic dogs at Mar-a-Lago are Secret Service assets and while we cannot discuss the specific number or their capabilities, we can say the robotic dogs are equipped with surveillance technology, and an array of advanced sensors that support our protective operations.”
The dogs are made by a company called Boston Dynamics, and the Secret Service shared a video back in July detailing their use of the robot dogs to secure protected spaces:
“The robot has a lot of uses. The robot right now is outfitted with a CBRN payload, which is chemical, biological, rad and nuke, where it can detect different threat agents and report back to a user that is operating it remotely.”
During the 2024 #NATOSummit we showed off the newest member of our security team – a cutting-edge robotic dog named ASTRO! 🐾
Emerging technology like ASTRO is one of the many ways we ensured safety and security of attendees at this week’s high-profile events.#NATO #RobotDog pic.twitter.com/iYqgDQEl4F
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) July 12, 2024
And a Boston Dynamics spokesman told The Palm Beach Post that Spot is used for a “wide variety” of tasks.
“For security reasons, we cannot comment on specific USSS applications. In general, Spot keeps people out of harm’s way and is used in a wide variety of public safety tasks.”
So what are we talking about here. Is Spot going to start shooting if somebody gets too close? Can he bite like a real dog? Does he have a cannon or rocket launcher? I’m real curious about this dog now.
If you’re looking for a robot dog to protect your own home, it looks like they were going for around $75,000 when they became available back in 2020, though there’s no doubt the Secret Service version isn’t exactly the off-the-shelf product. Who knows what that thing’s equipped with and how much it ultimately cost.
It sounds like the dogs can be outfitted for a variety of different situations and needs, so it’s hard to tell exactly what Spot (the dog protecting Mar-a-Lago) is capable of. But it’s safe to say that’s one dog you’re not going to want to pet.
