Under current federal law, all former presidents are entitled to lifetime protection from the Secret Service, and there aren’t any exceptions listed in the statute. The only legal reason currently for abandoning protection would be if a former president waived his right to his Secret Service detail, which only one former president has ever done. Richard Nixon waived his Secret Service protection 11 years after leaving office in disgrace following the Watergate scandal. Now that former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 counts of mishandling classified documents, he could face 20 years in prison. So, what happens to his Secret Service detail? While there wouldn’t be a Secret Service agent inside his cell, it’s likely two agents would be posted outside his cell, two agents in the corridor leading up to the cell block, and another two agents at the entrance to the prison. The prison would have to serve the former president his meals inside his cell, as he would not be with the general population. There are, however, few people who believe that former President Trump will actually receive jail time.
