Trump International Hotel.Photo: Getty
According toThe Washington Post, the expense reports reveal that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service as much as $1,185 a night for agents to stay in properties such as the Trump International Hotel in D.C.
The reports further illustrate how, during the Trump presidency, Secret Service supervisors sought out special waivers that allowed the agency to pay far more than the government-approved nightly rate for a hotel in the D.C. area, thePostreports.
The Washington Postreported in 2020 that President Trump’s private clubs and hotels hadcharged the Secret Service up to $650 per nightwhile protecting the president during his routine trips to his properties while in office.
But the new expense reports paint an even starker picture, showing that Trump’s company charged the Secret Service $1,160 (more than four times the government rate) in April 2017, when agents stayed to protectEric Trumpand his wife, Lara, at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. Per thePost, when Donald Trump Jr. stayed at the same D.C. property in November 2017, the Secret Service was charged $1,185 a night for his security detail to stay there.
Eric, who is both the president’s son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, has previously disputed that the company’s hotels profited during Trump’s time in office, saying that any agents who traveled with his father during his time in office stayed “at our properties free.”
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Speaking to thePostearlier, Eric added: “So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50.”
In a new statement given to thePost, Eric doubled down on those claims, saying: “Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free.”
“The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels,” Eric’s statement continued.
ThePostnotes that the expense reports “do not cover all Secret Service expenses at Trump properties during his presidency and reflect only a fraction of those expenses since he left office,” and that Trump visited his own eponymous properties “more than 500 times during his presidency.”
Since Trump left office in Jan. 2021, the Secret Service continues to protect him, as is customary for all former presidents. Untraditionally, however, the agency continues to also pay the Trump Organization to stay at Trump-owned properties while protecting him.
source: people.com
