Trump abbreviates Secret Service as S.S. — although he knows the right way to do it

By Helen Chernikoff June 11, 2020

In a tweet Thursday morning, President Trump abbreviated “Secret Service” to “S.S.” — also the abbreviation for the Schutzstaffel, a paramilitary organization created by Adolf Hitler. One of its units was responsible for enforcing Nazi racial policy.

Our great National Guard Troops who took care of the area around the White House could hardly believe how easy it was. “A walk in the park”, one said. The protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)
I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Email(Required)

The accepted abbreviation for the Secret Service is USSS, and Trump has tweeted using that form in the past.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America called the tweet “Another dog whistle to white supremacists and neo-Nazis.” Adding, “@realDonaldTrump is the biggest threat to American Jews.”

Trump is known for his cavalier manner with spelling, punctuation and capitalization on Twitter, but in this case he may well have abbreviated the name of his team of personal bodyguards merely to make sure his tweet fit, as it exactly fits Twitter’s 280-character limit.

Jewish Twitter took note.

Who had “Donald Trump refers to the secret service as the SS” on their bingo card? pic.twitter.com/cMDFf1iEwa

— Tema Smith (@temasmith) June 11, 2020

Others pointed out that the Secret Service’s actual abbreviation is USSS, which also would have fit within the character limit.

BREAKING: Moments ago Trump thanked the “S.S.” for handling protesters.

For those who are unaware, the SS was Hitler’s Nazis who ran the concentration camps and mass murdered peaceful civilians in the holocaust.

FYI: The Secret Service uses the acronym USSS.

— Black Lives Matter (@HKrassenstein) June 11, 2020

The tweet followed a series on Wednesday night in which Trump threatened to take control of the city of Seattle, the site of intense protest.

“These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!” the president wrote.

The SS was responsible for deporting Jews to concentration camps and ghettos, and was the main group tasked with murdering Jews as a part of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” The historian Richard Rhodes wrote that they existed “outside the bounds of morality.”

SS officers had to prove Aryan ancestry. SS officers were also paid more than other soldiers because they were expected to have more children to pass on their elite genes in keeping with Nazi doctrine.

Helen Chernikoff is The Forward’s senior news editor. Contact her at [email protected] or follower her on Twitter @thesimplechild

Molly Boigon contributed reporting.

Helen Chernikoff is the Forward’s News Editor. She came to the Forward from The Jewish Week, where she served as the first web director and created both a blog dedicated to disability issues and a food and wine website. Before that, she covered the housing, lodging and logistics industries for Reuters, where she could sit at her desk and watch her stories move the stock market. Helen has a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University and a BA in History and French from Amherst College. She is also a rabbinical school dropout. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @thesimplechild.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO