{"id":467430,"date":"2026-06-08T22:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/467430\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T22:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T22:01:09","slug":"trump-visit-triggers-major-security-lockdown-at-madison-square-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/467430\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump visit triggers major security lockdown at Madison Square Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

An AFP reporter yesterday saw a three-metre fence around parts of Madison Square Garden and a heavy presence of Secret Service personnel charged with protecting the US President.<\/p>\n

\"VictorVictor Wembanyama, of the San Antonio Spurs, looks to pass the ball as Knicks centre Mitchell Robinson defends during the NBA Finals. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Knicks fan Eric Velez, 45, said he planned to watch the game at a Manhattan bar because he did not have a ticket and could not get near the venue due to the security measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s looking good so far. I\u2019m nervous. Hopefully, they do it this time,\u201d Velez said ahead of the game.<\/p>\n

Packed venue<\/p>\n

The Knicks have a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series against the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, and now the action shifts to the Big Apple for games three and four.<\/p>\n

The team, chasing their first basketball championship since 1973, have whipped up a feverish following in the US\u2019 largest city.<\/p>\n

Ticket prices for today\u2019s game are out of the reach of most New Yorkers, but the self-proclaimed \u201cWorld\u2019s Most Famous Arena\u201d will still be packed to the rafters, with celebrity fans courtside.<\/p>\n

Among those attending is New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who told reporters he paid nearly $1000 (NZ$1700) for his tickets. He is not expected to watch alongside Trump.<\/p>\n

The Secret Service plans to deploy counter-drone technology as part of its operation to protect the US leader, who has faced three alleged assassination attempts in less than two years.<\/p>\n

\"USUS President Donald Trump is a Knicks fan. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trump, a long-time Knicks fan, last visited Madison Square Garden in November 2024 to watch a UFC fight<\/a> after his election victory. He earlier held a campaign rally at the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know what tonight means to New Yorkers who have been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this,\u201d Special Agent Matt McCool told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Secret Service\u2019s focus is straightforward: to ensure everyone attending the game can enjoy the game and have a safe experience, while we carry out our responsibility to protect the President of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New York Police Department said it would not increase security specifically at Penn Station because of Sunday\u2019s stabbing.<\/p>\n

NYPD Chief Michael LiPetri said that hundreds of officers are assigned to the transit hub, adding that the deployment there \u201cwill not change in light of the incident yesterday\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2013 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An AFP reporter yesterday saw a three-metre fence around parts of Madison Square Garden and a heavy presence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[665,1975,21500,96549,2178,116172,49640,5269,8589,83415,296,208006,28360,124141,661,111,139,69,675,2572,2437,213,10505,1529,83329,5654,1865,90807,2179,3593,52193,9863,540,1533,102,47097],"class_list":["post-467430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-around","tag-at","tag-attending","tag-cordon","tag-donald","tag-fabled","tag-finals","tag-game","tag-garden","tag-hometown","tag-into","tag-knicks","tag-lockdown","tag-madison","tag-major","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-police","tag-president","tag-security","tag-sports","tag-square","tag-three","tag-throw","tag-tight","tag-today","tag-triggers","tag-trump","tag-venue","tag-virtual","tag-visit","tag-where","tag-will","tag-with","tag-yorks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}