Topline
The Trump Organization charged Secret Service staff “exorbitant” prices to stay at former President Donald Trump’s hotels in order to protect him and his family during and after his presidency, the Democratic chair of the House Oversight Committee said Monday, arguing the high rates may have brought a “taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses.”
The Trump International Hotel is seen on March 22, 2019.
Key Facts
The former president’s company charged the Secret Service as much as $1,185 per night to stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., more than five times the government recommended rate for the city, which was typically around $195 to $240, Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday, which was first reported on by the Washington Post.
The Trump Organization charged Secret Service staff more than the government recommended rate for hotel stays in 40 instances from January 20, 2017, to September 15, 2021, according to documents reviewed by the committee.
The exorbitant rates raise “significant concerns about the former President’s self dealing,” Maloney said, adding that the committee was continuing to think through potential legislation to prevent conflicts of interest for future presidents.
The Secret Service has not provided the Committee with a “complete picture” of all its expenses at Trump-owned properties, Maloney alleged in the letter. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Big Number
At least $1.4 million. That’s how much in U.S. taxpayer funds the Secret Service spent to protect Trump and his family at his properties, according to the records obtained by the committee. Those charges represent only a portion of the former president’s expenses since he left the White House, according to Maloney.
Contra
Eric Trump, the son of the former president, has previously claimed government employees working alongside Trump stayed “at our properties for free,” Maloney claimed in the letter. Eric Trump claimed in 2019 the government “saves a fortune” when the former president and his aides would stay at his properties because other hotels would be “charging them $500 a night, whereas you know we charge them, like $50.”
Key Background
The findings come as the Committee continues to carry out a probe into Trump’s conflicts of interest. Trump visited his own properties more than 500 times during his presidency, including 145 visits to his Mar-A-Lago residency in Florida, according to Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington. The nonprofit watchdog organization released a report in May that found the Secret Service had spent nearly $2 million of taxpayer money at Trump properties. Stays at Mar-A-Lago—which federal agents searched earlier this year as a part of a Justice Department probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents—were one of the biggest expenses: the Secret Service paid Trump’s private club more than $300,000 to protect him and his family at the Florida residence, the watchdog group found.
Further Reading
Trump charged Secret Service ‘exorbitant’ rates at his hotels, records show (Washington Post)
Trump Organization charged Secret Service as much as $1,185 per night to stay at Trump properties (NBC News)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/10/17/trumps-company-charged-secret-service-1185-per-night-to-stay-at-his-hotel-documents-show/