The US Secret Service has deployed surveillance drones which are constantly on standby near the White House to monitor potential threats, ABC News reports.

“A few hundred feet away, a drone port, run by the U.S. Secret Service and not the military, is already quietly operational. Equipped with cameras and sensors to scope out potential threats from a bird’s-eye view, the small UAVs stand on alert in four gray weatherproof boxes until deployed at officers' commands,” ABC notes.

The drones are not armed; they are installed on the roof of the Treasury Department building. The Secret Service can launch them from remote control panels to respond immediately to the situation.

“That model has been adopted by hundreds of police agencies across the U.S., often powered by AI software to help dodge obstacles or track targets,” ABC adds.

This was not announced publicly so as not to weaken the White House’s arguments in favor of building a ballroom, on the roof of which President Donald Trump has promised to place missile-carrying military drones for security purposes.

“The Secret Service declined to comment on the specifics of its drone operations but said the new docks are separate from Trump's ballroom drone port,” ABC adds.