Saturday's rally for President Donald Trump at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township is certain to draw thousands of supporters, and likely a number of protesters.

Traffic constraints will be in place on busy Route 8, promising to make for impatient and peeved motorists.

Then, there is the not-so-little matter of protecting the president and other dignitaries in attendance.

The agency with the ultimate responsibility for safeguarding the commander in chief is the U.S. Secret Service, which is coordinating security for the rally.

Agents since earlier in the week have been meeting with ranking state police staff, local law enforcement personnel, and airport officials to discuss logistics and to put plans into place.

“The Secret Service runs the show,” said State Police Patrol Sgt. Joseph Zandarski at the Butler barracks. “We just try to do what we can (and) do our part to provide security when they ask us.”

Zandarski said uniformed troopers will provide security “in and around” the airport on Saturday.

As of Thursday morning, he did not know the number of troopers who would be working the detail.

Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe said his office will help at the rally with whatever is required.

“We are helping, aiding, assisting the presidential detail, the Secret Service and, of course, Penn Township police, on the internal and external property,” he said. “We are preparing as we would for any other large, mass gathering.”

Slupe has 31 deputies at his disposal, but he declined to say how many would be working at the rally. He said he would attend the rally in uniform.

The Secret Service, he said, would be responsible for physically screening attendees with magnetometers, and state and local police would be principally in charge of traffic control as well as crowd control.

While recognizing that Saturday's event creates unique challenges for security, Zandarski said the Secret Service is up to the task.

“This is not their first rodeo,” he said. “They've been doing this over and over again. They are working 24/7 to get everything in place.”