Trump Family’s Lifestyle Is Already Costing Tax Payers Millions
The Washington Post ran a piece yesterday that notes just how much Trump and his family are costing tax payers with their extravagant lifestyle. The Post quoted a former Secret Service employee who called the task of protecting Trump and his family as saying, “It’s a logistical nightmare.” Agents are “at severe risk of burnout, and the very last thing you want is to have your agents burned out.”
Trump and his family are insisting on doing things differently than past first families. For example, his wife and son continue to live in New York City meaning that the heavy burden of protecting them in the middle of the biggest and busiest city in the country is a year round affair. As the Washington Post pointed out, New York city “is paying $500,000 a day to guard Trump Tower, according to police officials’ estimates, an amount that could reach $183 million a year.”
Secret Service is also charged with protecting Trump’s sons who are now running his business. That means that when the Trump boys go around the world trying to cash in on daddy’s big opportunity – Secret Service has to figure out a way to protect them.
And Donald Trump so far has insisted on going down to his Florida resort each weekend of his presidency. That means the full Secret Service operation has to essentially shift the White House down to Florida. It is common for presidents to go on vacation once or twice a year or even work from Camp David which is just a helicopter ride away. But to have to fly Air Force One and all the security that comes with it down to Florida once a week is a bit much – even for Trump.
The Washington Post also noted that, “Trump’s three Mar-a-Lago trips since the inauguration have probably cost the federal treasury about $10 million, based on figures used in an October government report analyzing White House travel, including money for Coast Guard units to patrol the exposed shoreline and other military, security and staffing expenses associated with moving the apparatus of the presidency.”
And here is the kicker. Not only is this extravagant lifestyle already costing tax payers a fortune, it looks like Trump may actually be making money on the whole thing.
For Trump, the costs come with an additional perk: Some of the money flows into his own pocket. While Trump has removed himself from managing his company, he has refused to divest his ownership, meaning that he benefits from corporate successes such as government contracts. The Washington Post points out that, “The Defense Department and Secret Service, for instance, have sought to rent space in Trump Tower, where leasing a floor can cost $1.5 million a year — though neither agency has disclosed any details. In addition, Trump’s travel to his signature properties while trailed by a press corps beaming images to the world allows the official business of the presidency to double as marketing opportunities for his brand.”
You may remember that Trump regularly criticized Obama for golfing while president, and in 2015 he even said, “I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done.”
According to Judicial Watch, Obama-related travel expenses cost about $97 million over eight years, meaning that Donald Trump has already spent more than 10% of that in less than a month of being president just on his trips to Mar-a-Lago.
The Washington Post also noted the physical security and national security challenges that are posed by Trump’s immature desire to spend weekends at his Florida club. “The challenges for Mar-a-Lago as a presidential home were apparent from pictures posted on social media last weekend by club guests — including close-up images of the presidential limousine and a picture of a military official carrying the nuclear ‘football.'”
