Japan unveils female police squad to protect Melania, Ivanka Trump
During training, the officers protected a woman impersonating Ivanka Trump.
-- Tokyo police have formed a squad of female officers to guard first lady Melania Trump when she and President Trump visit Japan in a few days, Japanese media reported today.
The squad will also protect Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and one of his advisers, while she is there for the presidential visit, local media reported. She arrived in Tokyo today.
The officers wore black suits as they trained outside Tokyo’s Imperial Palace Wednesday, ahead of the Trumps’ arrival.
“We opted for a more cultivated look to suit the occasion," an officer in charge of the security plan said, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. The team even practiced their training on the city’s streets.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that police in the Japanese capital put together the unit ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Police planned to employ more than 10,000 officers to provide security while the U.S. president is in Japan.
President Trump was scheduled to arrive in Japan on Sunday, the first stop in a five-nation tour. He will also go to South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Anthony Trotter contributed reporting from Tokyo.