Donald Trump needs a new car. The Beast, which his predecessors and, for that matter, he himself drove, is no longer good enough.
President Trump is getting a new car. A top-of-the-line Cadillac Escalade. Or at least that's what it looks like.
The successor to the famous presidential vehicle 'The Beast' has little to do with an ordinary Escalade.
However, it is not just the president's car that American General Motors has begun developing. A whole range of vehicles will be built exclusively for the US government.
However, how much it will cost taxpayers was not revealed when the Secret Service, whose sole job it is to look after the country's intelligence, presented the car on Friday.
This is stated in a post from the authority on Facebook .
Trump's car to be destroyed when replacement is ready
Little of the financials have been made public, however. According to Carscoops, General Motors has signed a contract worth up to $14.8 million with the US government.
However, the entire project – that is, all the new cars for the US government – could end up costing taxpayers a staggering $40.8 million when the project is scheduled to be completed in 2029. That is, the year after Donald Trump resigns as president.
The current version of the "Beast" entered service in 2018 and is built on the chassis of a GMC truck. According to information that the government or General Motors are not keeping confidential, the car weighs about 9,100 kilograms.
Previously, the Secret Service used cars like the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition, but now they have switched to Cadillac. At least on paper.
According to Fox News, Cadillac received an additional $15.8 million, equivalent to 108,000 million kroner (in 2024 prices, ed.) to develop the current version of The Beast.
The car will also be destroyed when it is taken out of service in 2029. And although the car is colloquially called 'The Beast', it goes internally at the Secret Service under the name 'Stagecoach'.
Another thing is that no one really knows what lies – and will lie – under the long hood. In fact, the latest presidential car that officially has only a few specifications is the one that George Bush had himself transported around in.
The car looked like a Cadillac but was actually a Chevrolet Suburban with a 7.4-liter V8 engine and a CD player that could hold 10 discs at once. Crazy stuff back then in 2001.