President Donald Trump is set to resume his helicopter departures from Washington as soon as Wednesday — but by using the Ellipse, a park south of the projects that have rendered the White House lawn unusable, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration plans.
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Supplies began accumulating on the Ellipse last week, including temporary ground protection and fenced-off container boxes, according to the people and photos reviewed by The Washington Post. The administration also installed anti-climb fencing around the Ellipse this week, to deter intruders, and the Secret Service is preparing to further secure the site on Wednesday, the people said.
Trump is expected to use his motorcade to make the quarter-mile trip from the White House to the Ellipse, they said. That would represent a significant change compared with past presidents’ traditional practice of walking out of the White House to board Marine One on the nearby South Lawn. Trump’s use of a motorcade to travel to or from the Ellipse is also likely to snarl traffic on streets near the White House.
The White House and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to questions about the plan.
The Ellipse is part of President’s Park, which is managed by the National Park Service and has been traditionally open to the public, but it has been largely fenced off during Trump’s presidency. Administration officials have said the park has been mostly closed to the public for security reasons and renovation work.
White House officials have also said they are reviewing security protocols after repeated threats to Trump, including a shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner in April.
Trump’s local projects, including his overhaul of Lafayette Square on the north side of the White House, rapid renovation of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool and use of the National Mall for events related to America’s 250th anniversary, have complicated access to parks and monuments.
The president’s last Marine One departure from the White House’s South Lawn was on May 12. The White House subsequently closed the lawn as workers set up a UFC cage match, organized by Trump, last month.
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Part of the lawn remains closed as contractors build a new permanent helipad that Trump wants to finish by mid-September, before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit the following week, The Post previously reported. Officials have said that a permanent helipad outside the White House is necessary because the new generation of Marine One helicopters runs the risk of scorching the White House grass.
Trump, an avid user of helicopters before he entered politics, also has characterized a White House helipad as an overdue upgrade after nearly 70 years of helicopters landing in the grass of the South Lawn.
“You know, they’re landing in the mud all the time,” Trump said Monday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
As a result of the construction, the president has been taken by motorcade to local destinations — such as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Joint Base Andrews — where he has routinely flown.
Some current and former officials have said that the present lack of helicopter access to transport the president has created a security risk by complicating plans to evacuate him quickly from the White House if necessary. The White House previously declined to comment on the security risks associated with pausing Marine One helicopter flights.
Ray L’Heureux, a retired Marine Corps colonel who previously oversaw the Marine Helicopter Squadron One, told The Post in May that using the Ellipse for helicopter departures instead of the South Lawn would create other problems, including a likely requirement for the Secret Service to assemble a motorcade each time the president needs to fly.
L’Heureux reaffirmed that on Tuesday, but added in a text message that it likely could be a truncated motorcade. It will have several requirements, he said, including an ambulance.
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