So either there's some major security threat of which we know nothing — or the Powers That Be are simply terrified of being mic-checked. I'm gonna have to go with the second one:

President Obama has boasted for months about hosting the annual summit of the Group of 8 industrialized nations this May in his hometown of Chicago, but on Monday, the White House without explanation announced a shift to the secluded setting of the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Administration officials and associates, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, said the president in recent weeks began discussing the idea of a more intimate setting for the world leaders — both to ease their communications and to cut down on the security concerns and traffic tie-ups of a big-city summit. Also, several noted, Vladimir V. Putin, a harsh critic of the United States who returns to the presidency of Russia after his election on Sunday, will be among the attendees.

“To facilitate a free-flowing discussion with our close G-8 partners, the president is inviting his fellow G-8 leaders to Camp David on May 18 to 19 for the G-8 Summit, which will address a broad range of economic, political and security issues,” the brief White House statement said.

Still, the change of location was unusual given the months-long lead time that such events require for preparation.

I think the reporter just said the White House was lying. Not in so many words, but close. You can draw your own conclusions.

Administration officials and others denied that the prospect of the anti-globalization protests common to such gatherings was a factor in the decision to change locations. After the Group of 8 summit, the separate summit of 28 NATO countries and Russia will go on as planned in Chicago, where leaders will discuss the future of the Atlantic alliance and specifically the coalition’s exit from Afghanistan by 2014 and the size and makeup of any residual force there.

Huh. So if protests weren't even a factor, considering the sorts of things that have been going on in protests around the globe, they'd have to be pretty dumb to not be worried about them. Which indicates to me that someone is blowing smoke, but that's okay. It's always better to have them scared of the people than it is to have the people scared of the Powers That Be.