Documents show Trump properties charged Secret Service higher rates than previously claimed


Newly released receipts and billing documents show that taxpayers paid for an additional $157,000 in charges stemming from the Secret Service staying at President Trump's properties, The Washington Post reports.
Since his inauguration, President Trump has spent 355 days visiting his own properties, the Post estimates. Trump's son, Eric Trump, has said agents "stay at our properties for free — meaning, like, cost for housekeeping," later adding, "we charge them, like, 50 bucks." The new receipts obtained by the watchdog group Public Citizen show that in 2017, 2018, and 2019, the Secret Service was charged for 177 additional nightly room rentals at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, at a cost of $396.15 per night, per room.
During the summer of 2018 and part of the summer of 2019, The Secret Service was also charged $17,000 per month to rent the Sarazen Cottage at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Local listings show this was an unusually high rate for homes in the area, the Post notes. The Secret Service paid the rental fee even when Trump and agents were not visiting the property.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Before these new receipts were made public, the Post estimated that Trump's company has charged the Secret Service at least $628,000 since 2017.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contempt
Speed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cuts
Speed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deportee
Speed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't last
Speed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's Shapiro
Speed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia University
Speed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrant
Speed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportations
Speed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US