Twice impeached former President Donald Trump has charged the Secret Service over $40,000 for space at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, since leaving office for a security detail intended to protect him, The Washington Post reports. Presidents get Secret Service protection for life, but it’s not usual that a former president profits from that protection.
According to records obtained by the Post, Trump’s resort charged the Secret Service $396.15 every night starting Jan. 20, the day he left the White House in disgrace and moved in full-time into his Florida club until April 30th for a total of $40,011.15. One individual familiar with the payments said that the charges were for a single room used as a workspace by Secret Service agents.
The Secret Service released records documenting the charges 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 outlet reports.
“While he was president, Trump’s properties charged the U.S. government more than $2.5 million, often so that Secret Service agents could use rooms near him,” the report continues.
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“Former presidents get Secret Service protection for life. But last year, The Washington Post spoke to historians and representatives for recent presidents and could not find another example of a president charging the Secret Service rent on this scale,” the outlet reports.
“Historians said they were surprised Trump was still charging the Secret Service, considering that ex-presidents are entitled to an array of other taxpayer-funded benefits, including paid staff and a $219,000-per-year pension,” the report states.
“Since fall 2017, Mar-a-Lago has charged the agency the same rate of $396.15 per night. On its invoices to the Secret Service, Mar-a-Lago wrote that this rate was “billed at cost.” The Trump Organization has not explained how it chose that rate, down to the penny,” the report adds.
Jeffrey A. Engel, the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, called the charges “tacky,” saying that “Just because you can make a buck doesn’t mean you should make a buck. And especially when you have a situation where you’re an ex-president. You’re not going to starve.”
Interestingly, while the Trump Organization did not comment on the matter, it is currently under criminal investigation. Also, Trump, who claims to be a billionaire, has already received $65,000 from his presidential pension. And now, Trump is making the government pay him for protection. And we pay for that.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
