The former presidents act seems to imply that a former president can decline Secret Service protection and even get $1 million for doing so. So I imagine he could just decline protection and hire his own security. But that would make it pretty obvious that he's planning on fleeing.

I didn't know that Secret Service was mandatory for former US Presidents.

not that Trump has probably ever driven a car

You could say the same about running off with boxes of classified docs and keeping them in a bathroom. Reality is they don't care as long as he's alive

No, most of this is untrue. Ex Presidents can refuse secret service detail. They are allowed to drive on public roads - that is a secret service rule that they can't but it's not against the law and Presidents don't have to follow those rules. And they are allowed to live outside the US if a host country allows them.

I imagine they would just arrest him and hand him over for protection. Any member who allowed it would be breaking their oath and supporting an enemy of the state at that point would they not?

Edit: I meant prosecution, not protection, but apparently people understood

I'm just imagining being the poor sap working for a foreign power trying to extract useful information from his cottage cheese brain.

"Do you have nuclear subs in the South China Sea?"

"We have to be extremely vigilant and extremely careful when it comes to nuclear. Nuclear changes the whole ballgame. ... The biggest problem we have is nuclear — nuclear proliferation and having some maniac, having some madman go out and get a nuclear weapon. That’s in my opinion, that is the single biggest problem that our country faces right now."

"Where! Are! The nuclear! Subs! Deployed!"

"Look, having nuclear — my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart — you know, if you're a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world — it's true! — but when you're a conservative Republican they try — oh, do they do a number — that's why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune — you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we're a little disadvantaged — but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me — it would have been so easy, and it's not as important as these lives are — nuclear is so powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right, who would have thought? — but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners — now it used to be three, now it's four — but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven't figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it's gonna take them about another 150 years — but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us, this is horrible."

which truly blows my mind - assholes are going to actively vote to sabotage their own country

The problem is they don't see it at all. Anyone who is truly in favor of Trump is watching propaganda that will always frame him as a poor victim of evil Democrat smear campaigns. Anyone else who is voting for him because they're a Republican and they just always vote R is just not paying attention and also fall under the category of "not seeing it." :(

So I looked into the USSS, and here from their FAQ: "Under Title 18, Section 3056, of the United States Code, agents and officers of the United States Secret Service can:

Carry firearms

Execute warrants issued under the laws of the United States

Make arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony recognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed such felony

Offer and pay rewards for services and information leading to the apprehension of persons involved in the violation of the law that the Secret Service is authorized to enforce

Investigate fraud in connection with identification documents, fraudulent commerce, fictitious instruments and foreign securities and

Perform other functions and duties authorized by law"

This leads me to wonder just how many times a SS Agent witnessed Trump committing a felony in their presence but didn't arrest him.

Or rather, they assassinate him themselves, since someone who has held clearance higher than any other member of the US government is a liability if he becomes disloyal to the US

So you're saying Trump knows this and doesn't plan to leave the country?