The History of the Waldorf Astoria and Securing the President

November 14, 2016

WRITER

Donald Trump reportedly said that, as president, he'll spend three days a week in New York City, away from the White House. The security measures alone would be enormous.

"The cost of securing the president in New York City is astounding," Glenn said Monday on his radio program.

However, expensive measures are nothing new when it comes to securing and shielding the president of the United States.

An underground train depot --- Track 61 --- was secretly built under the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for President Franklin Roosevelt and other VIPs to move in and out of the city as discreetly as possible. Primarily a mechanism to hide FDR's disability from the public, the secret station also provided a way to quickly remove him in the event of a crisis.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these questions:

• What would be the impact on regular citizens if Trump stayed in the city three days a week?

• Why did Track 61 use a dual train system for President Roosevelt?

• Did Donald Trump once request a no-fly zone over his Mar-a-Lago property?

• Is Track 61 still in use today?

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: Have you guys heard that Donald Trump has said that he's going to spend three days a week in New York away from the White House? That can't be. You can't secure the Trump Tower. How?

PAT: It's in the middle of Manhattan. I don't know how you --

GLENN: It's a big glass building in the middle of Manhattan.

PAT: Yeah. Yeah, I don't know how they do that.

GLENN: On Fifth Avenue.

PAT: First of all, it would shut down New York.

GLENN: It would shut down Fifth Avenue. At least that block of Fifth Avenue.

PAT: Look what happened every time Obama came to --

GLENN: It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare.

PAT: Oh, my gosh. It was horrific

STU: The expense -- I mean, seriously, in less than one day, he would spend all the money he's saving on his salary. And it would be like an hour of security.

GLENN: Yeah. No. It's -- to get the president in and out of New York -- first of all, underneath the Waldorf-Astoria, they still -- it's my understanding, they still have the dual train engines waiting for him.

So underneath the Waldorf-Astoria, which is where President Roosevelt selected, there is a train station. It's right -- it's right on the way to Grand Central Station. And you have two engines. Two full train engines, locomotives. And every 45 minutes one is powered down as the other one powers up.

So you have to -- so they don't overheat, you have to have two of them. Every 45 minutes, switching which one is -- which one is running. And it has to run all the time. And it is a special track just for the president. In case there's a problem, you get him to the Waldorf-Astoria. You get him down to the train tracks. And he's thrown on one of those trains, and it takes off.

And that's just one of the escape routes for the president.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: I mean, the cost of securing the president in New York City is astounding. And, you know, here's the other thing: Donald Trump has got to be loving this. When he bought Mar-a-Lago, he didn't like the fact that planes were flying over Mar-a-Lago, and so he told the airport he wanted the flight pattern changed. And they all said, "Who do you think you are?"

JEFFY: There's been an ongoing lawsuit.

GLENN: Yeah. They weren't ever go to go change it. And they were really angry at him, that he would have the balls to say that. Now, he can say, "I'm the president of the United States. You're changing the flight plan."

JEFFY: Yeah. Pretty much they have to.

PAT: Well, I think Secret Service --

GLENN: Yeah, I'm sure it's already done.

PAT: The Secret Service will do that. Yeah. So he got it done.

GLENN: Yeah, it's already done.

So now he's got his land value back.

JEFFY: This is the only reason he ran for president.

(laughter)

GLENN: Oh, man -- think of -- think of the rental property -- the rentals after he's president. Think of how much Trump Tower is worth now --

JEFFY: It doesn't matter. He said --

GLENN: It used to be the -- the New York White House during the Trump administration.

JEFFY: He said in the 60 Minute interview last night that occupancy rates doesn't matter to him. Any of that, it doesn't matter to him.

GLENN: Oh, I would move out of Trump Tower now, if he was going to live there. Because of just the hassle. Even if I was the biggest fan in the world, oh, my gosh, I'm not having my building shut down over and over and over again because of Secret Service. That's going to be a hassle for all of those people that paid a lot of money to live in Trump Tower.

PAT: Yeah.

[break]

GLENN: Just looking at the pictures of the train depot underneath Waldorf-Astoria. Apparently --

JEFFY: A lot of cobwebs?

GLENN: Apparently they don't do that anymore. Which is good news. I can't imagine what that cost.

PAT: They don't do that anymore.

GLENN: But it shows the empty train tracks and one of the cars that is still sitting there.

PAT: Well, since --

GLENN: That's a good thing. This was built for FDR for -- because he didn't want to show his disability.

PAT: And it was back in the day when the Waldorf-Astoria was somebody.

GLENN: The Waldorf-Astoria is the -- is the place that is still the place that the president goes to stay. Now, that will change with Trump Tower. But Barack Obama --

STU: Really?

GLENN: Yeah.

PAT: Obama stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria?

GLENN: Yeah.

PAT: Did he really?

GLENN: Yeah. Waldorf-Astoria. So did George Bush. So did Bill Clinton.

PAT: Wow. Somebody needs to introduce these guys to a nice hotel.

(laughter)

GLENN: It was the one built at the time -- oh, I'm sorry, the Waldorf is so horrible.

PAT: Come on, you know better than that. You know the Waldorf is not what it once was.

GLENN: It's a Hilton. No, it's a Hilton.

PAT: It's a Hilton hotel now.

GLENN: But the Waldorf has other sections of it. It's a very large hotel.

PAT: Yeah, that's true.

STU: I was surprised, one of our recent business trips, we went up there --

JEFFY: You didn't stay in the special section, Pat?

PAT: No.

STU: So we'll go up there and there will be like -- we usually will all like book maybe, you know, potentially in the same hotel. Or someone will book it for us. It was a last-minute trip that we had to take. So I went on Orbitz or something and just tried to book a hotel. And the Waldorf-Astoria popped up as one of the cheapest ones --

GLENN: It's huge. It's huge.

STU: Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's why.

GLENN: It's got tons of empty rooms. Because it's huge.

PAT: Did you wind up staying there, Stu? Did you wind up staying there?

STU: Yeah, I did.

PAT: Was the room extraordinary, like wow, the Waldorf-Astoria?

GLENN: Was it good?

PAT: No, it's not.

STU: It was nice.

GLENN: It's nice, but it's an old hotel --

PAT: It's okay. It's a Sheraton hotel. It's a Hilton hotel.

GLENN: It's a Hilton. Yeah.

STU: Yeah.

JEFFY: Oh, you can't stand it. Hilton.

GLENN: Like you can't have the president stay at a Hilton.

PAT: Well, you can't. I mean, they don't. Let's be real about it.

GLENN: Yes, you can -- we should.

JEFFY: Thank you.

PAT: We don't.

GLENN: We should.

Featured Image: The Waldorf Astoria, 1899, Library of of Congress (Photo: Wiki Commons)

EXPOSED: Why the left’s trans agenda just CRASHED at SCOTUS

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

You never know what you’re going to get with the U.S. Supreme Court these days.

For all of the Left’s insane panic over having six supposedly conservative justices on the court, the decisions have been much more of a mixed bag. But thank God – sincerely – there was a seismic win for common sense at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It’s a win for American children, parents, and for truth itself.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s state ban on irreversible transgender procedures for minors.

The mostly conservative justices stood tall in this case, while Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson predictably dissented. This isn’t just Tennessee’s victory – 20 other red states that have similar bans can now breathe easier, knowing they can protect vulnerable children from these sick, experimental, life-altering procedures.

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, saying Tennessee’s law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. It’s rooted in a very simple truth that common sense Americans get: kids cannot consent to permanent damage. The science backs this up – Norway, Finland, and the UK have all sounded alarms about the lack of evidence for so-called “gender-affirming care.” The Trump administration’s recent HHS report shredded the activist claims that these treatments help kids’ mental health. Nothing about this is “healthcare.” It is absolute harm.

The Left, the ACLU, and the Biden DOJ screamed “discrimination” and tried to twist the Constitution to force this radical ideology on our kids.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court saw through it this time. In her concurring opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett nailed it: gender identity is not some fixed, immutable trait like race or sex. Detransitioners are speaking out, regretting the surgeries and hormones they were rushed into as teens. WPATH – the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the supposed experts on this, knew that kids cannot fully grasp this decision, and their own leaked documents prove that they knew it. But they pushed operations and treatments on kids anyway.

This decision is about protecting the innocent from a dangerous ideology that denies biology and reality. Tennessee’s Attorney General calls this a “landmark victory in defense of America’s children.” He’s right. This time at least, the Supreme Court refused to let judicial activism steal our kids’ futures. Now every state needs to follow Tennessee’s lead on this, and maybe the tide will continue to turn.

99% see THROUGH media’s L.A. riot cover-up

Barbara Davidson / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn asked for YOUR take on the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots, and YOU responded with a thunderous verdict. Your answers to our recent Glennbeck.com poll cut through the establishment’s haze, revealing a profound skepticism of their narrative.

The results are undeniable: 98% of you believe taxpayer-funded NGOs are bankrolling these riots, a bold rejection of the claim that these are grassroots protests. Meanwhile, 99% dismiss the mainstream media’s coverage as woefully inadequate—can the official story survive such resounding doubt? And 99% of you view the involvement of socialist and Islamist groups as a growing threat to national security, signaling alarm at what Glenn calls a coordinated “Color Revolution” lurking beneath the surface.

You also stand firmly with decisive action: 99% support President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to quell the chaos. These numbers defy the elite’s tired excuses and reflect a demand for truth and accountability. Are your tax dollars being weaponized to destabilize America? You’ve answered with conviction.

Your voice sends a powerful message to those who dismiss the unrest as mere “protests.” You spoke, and Glenn listened. Keep shaping the conversation at Glennbeck.com.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

EXPOSED: Your tax dollars FUND Marxist riots in LA

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

Protesters wore Che shirts, waved foreign flags, and chanted Marxist slogans — but corporate media still peddles the ‘spontaneous outrage’ narrative.

I sat in front of the television this weekend, watching the glittering spectacle of corporate media do what it does best: tell me not to believe my lying eyes.

According to the polished news anchors, what I was witnessing in Los Angeles was “mostly peaceful protests.” They said it with all the earnest gravitas of someone reading a bedtime story, while behind them the streets looked like a deleted scene from “Mad Max.” Federal agents dodged concrete slabs as if it were an Olympic sport. A man in a Che Guevara crop top tried to set a police car on fire. Dumpster fires lit the night sky like some sort of postapocalyptic luau.

If you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

But sure, it was peaceful. Tear gas clouds and Molotov cocktails are apparently the incense and candles of this new civic religion.

The media expects us to play along — to nod solemnly while cities burn and to call it “activism.”

Let’s call this what it is: delusion.

Another ‘peaceful’ riot

If the Titanic “mostly floated” and the Hindenburg “mostly flew,” then yes, the latest L.A. riots are “mostly peaceful.” But history tends to care about those tiny details at the end — like icebergs and explosions.

The coverage was full of phrases like “spontaneous,” “grassroots,” and “organic,” as if these protests materialized from thin air. But many of the signs and banners looked like they’d been run off at ComradesKinkos.com — crisp print jobs with slogans promoting socialism, communism, and various anti-American regimes. Palestinian flags waved beside banners from Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and El Salvador. It was like someone looted a United Nations souvenir shop and turned it into a revolution starter pack.

And guess who funded it? You did.

According to at least one report, much of this so-called spontaneous rage fest was paid for with your tax dollars. Tens of millions of dollars from the Biden administration ensured your paycheck funded Trotsky cosplayers chucking firebombs at local coffee shops.

The same aging radicals from the 1970s — now armed with tenure, pensions, and book deals — are cheering from the sidelines, waxing poetic about how burning a squad car is “liberation.” These are the same folks who once wore tie-dye and flew to help guerrilla fighters and now applaud chaos under the banner of “progress.”

This is not progress. It is not protest. It’s certainly not justice or peace.

It’s an attempt to dismantle the American system — and if you dare say that out loud, you’re labeled a bigot, a fascist, or, worst of all, someone who notices reality.

And what sparked this taxpayer-funded riot? Enforcement against illegal immigrants — many of whom, according to official arrest records, are repeat violent offenders. These are not the “dreamers” or the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. These are criminals with long, violent rap sheets — allowed to remain free by a broken system that prioritizes ideology over public safety.

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg | Getty Images

This is what people are rioting over — not the mistreatment of the innocent, but the arrest of the guilty. And in California, that’s apparently a cause for outrage.

The average American, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, is supposed to worry they’ll be next. But unless you’re in the habit of assaulting people, smuggling, or firing guns into people’s homes, you probably don’t have much to fear.

Still, if you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

The left has lost it

This is what happens when a culture loses its grip on reality. We begin to call arson “art,” lawlessness “liberation,” and criminals “community members.” We burn the good and excuse the evil — all while the media insists it’s just “vibes.”

But it’s not just vibes. It’s violence, paid for by you, endorsed by your elected officials, and whitewashed by newsrooms with more concern for hair and lighting than for truth.

This isn’t activism. This is anarchism. And Democratic politicians are fueling the flame.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck's 'No King but Christ' merch: Will faith STOP the chaos?

On Saturday, June 14, 2025 (President Trump's 79th birthday), the "No Kings" protest—a noisy spectacle orchestrated by progressive heavyweights like Randi Weingarten and her union cronies—will take place in Washington, D.C.

Thousands will chant "no thrones, no crowns, no king," claiming to fend off authoritarianism and corruption.

But let’s cut through the noise. The protesters' grievances—rigged courts, deported citizens, slashed services—are a house of cards. Zero Americans have been deported, Federal services are still bloated, and if anyone is rigging the courts, it's the Left. So why rally now, especially with riots already flaring in L.A.?

Chaos isn’t a side effect here—it’s the plan.

This is not about liberty; it's a power grab dressed up as resistance. The "No Kings" crowd wants you to buy their script: government’s the enemy—unless they’re the ones running it. It's the identical script from 2020: same groups, same tactics, same goal, different name.

But Glenn is flipping the script. He's dropping a new "No Kings but Christ" merch line, just in time for the protest. Merch that proclaims one truth: no earthly ruler owns us; only Christ does. It’s a bold, faith-rooted rejection of this secular circus.

Why should you care? Because this won’t just be a rally—it’ll be a symptom. Distrust in institutions is sky-high, and rightly so, but the "No Kings" answer is a hollow shout into the void. Glenn’s merch begs the question: if you’re ditching kings, who’s really in charge? Get yours and wear the answer proudly.

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