Between January 20 and today, Donald Trump has charged the Secret Service over $40,000 to work at Mar-a-Lago — where they are assigned to protect him.
The $40,000 number is the result of charging $396.15 a day for a room that agents used as a workspace at the Palm Beach club. Of course, that’s taxpayer dollars.
Trump stayed at Mar-a-Lago more than a week beyond that before moving to his Bedminster, N.J., club for the summer. It was unclear whether he continued to charge the Secret Service into May.
Records documenting the charges were released by the Secret Service in response to a public-records request from The Washington Post. They are the first evidence that Trump has continued a controversial and lucrative practice — charging rent to his own protectors — into his post-presidency.
The Washington Post
Between 2017 and 2020, Trump properties charged the government over $2.5 million for rooms that officials — usually Secret Service — had to stay in to stay near the president.
Former presidents receive Secret Service protection for life. Historians interviewed by The Washington Post in 2020 could not find another president in history who has charged the Secret Service at the rate that Trump did as president. Trump’s post-presidency charges are even greater for the January – April period. The daily bill is the same, but the stay is much longer than his trips to Mar-a-Lago as president.
External Sources
The Washington Post (Archived)
Photo: Unknown, via ABC