The Sun is probably wrong in reporting that an armed U.S. Secret Service Presidential Protective Division Counter-Assault Team is with President Trump in Britain.

Once code-named "Hawkeye," Secret Service CATs are responsible for diverting the attention of assailants so that the rest of the detail can cover and evacuate their protectee. The CAT's secondary purpose is to neutralize the assailants as efficiently as possible.

But here's the thing: While the CATs regularly deploy with the first family and the vice president during foreign travel, the British government is opposed to their presence on U.K. soil. That's because of the political sensitivity of heavily armed Americans being seen riding through British streets. The Secret Service has traditionally accepted this limitation.

The absence of a CAT is not, however, any great concern for Trump's security.

After all, the only reason the Secret Service is willing to keep CAT agents unarmed or embedded with the rest of the Secret Service detail during U.K. trips is the alternative that the British offer. The U.K. substitutes the CAT with military special forces from the British Army's 22 SAS regiment or the British Navy's SBS, or with members of London Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Specialist Firearms Office teams. The CTSFOs are deployed to protect at-high-risk dignitaries such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

My basic point is this: If the Sun is correct and armed U.S. CATs are deployed with Trump during this visit, that development represents a major shift in U.S.-U.K. protective arrangements. But I suspect the Sun is wrong.