Security surrounding Donald Trump’s election night headquarters in New York City is already high.
NYPD swat team members surround the Midtown Manhattan hotel that will house Trump’s “victory party” Tuesday night, as his campaign calls it.
This is the first time in 70 years both presidential candidates have been in New York City on election night, and that has elevated terror threat levels.
Both Al Qaeda and ISIS have threatened attacks on election night.
The NYPD has responded with an increased presence. Five thousand officers will be deployed throughout the city which, according to police, is comparable to New Year’s Eve.
The NYPD has also tripled the capacity of their counterterrorist unit.
Both Trump and Hillary Clinton’s venues will be closed to outside traffic starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. The blocks surrounding Trump Tower in Manhattan will also be closed to traffic whenever Trump is in the building Tuesday.
The Trump venue for election night is small. I mean, really small. It feels smaller than where I was for the Canadian election, at Stephen Harper’s event in Calgary.
When we visited the site, there were a number of American flags being put up and Fox News was playing on the big screens.
While security is intense outside the hotel, it’s so far been pretty minimal inside. We’ve been told that will likely change tomorrow.