President Donald Trump’s properties have a long history of charging the Secret Service huge rates to protect him and a new report from The Washington Post shows that’s not changing.
The Post reports that “the Secret Service was charged the $650 rate dozens of times in 2017, and a different rate, $396.15, dozens more times in 2018,” while they were staying at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, according to newly released documents.
Another set of receipts showed that the Secret Service was billed $17,000 per month for a cottage at Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
NEW: @realdonaldtrump’s company charges Trump’s own Secret Service agents while they protect him — at rates as high as $650/night for a room and $17,000/month for a cottage. Taxpayers pay. https://t.co/JIOHe66Hjx
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) February 7, 2020
Trump isn’t the first top administration official to charge the Secret Service to stay on his property. Former Vice President Joe Biden also charged them to rent a cottage on his property in Delaware. However, that rent was considerably lower — only $2,000 per month.
Capitol Hill Democrats have accused the administration of stonewalling them when they’ve tried to find out more about the price tag that Trump puts on the Secret Service.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the former Secret Service director to testify before Congress about the vulnerabilities of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. His request came after a Chinese woman entered the club with a flash drive containing malware.
Early in the Trump administration, a contract between the General Services Administration, which pays the bills for the Secret Service, fell through while they were stationed at Trump Tower in Manhattan. That forced them to move to a nearby trailer that cost a whopping $130,000 per month.
In the first five months of his administration, the Secret Service paid Trump’s businesses over a quarter of a million dollars to protect the president. Trump has promoted his properties throughout his presidency, even suggesting that he would hold the G7 Summit at Mar-a-Lago. He abandoned that plan after widespread backlash.
