Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

[scion]

SURPRISE: IVANKA, ERIC, AND DONALD TRUMP JR. ARE STILL MOOCHING OFF U.S. TAXPAYERS

Trump’s adult children received six months of taxpayer-funded security after their dad left office, despite having nothing to do with the government and being rich enough to pay for it themselves.

BY BESS LEVIN
SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/ivanka-eric-don-jr-trump-secret-service-taxpayer-funded

During the four years that Donald Trump served as president, he famously ripped off taxpayers for millions of dollars by hosting official business at his properties, where the grifter incarnate made sure to bill the people for everything from golf carts to candles to water. The biggest source of income, though, seemed to come from charging the Secret Service to rent space at his own resorts; whether it was a weekend at Mar-a-Lago or an overnight at Bedminster, Trump, who claims to be “very rich,” never thought to let the individuals protecting his life stay gratis, instead forcing the government to fork over significantly more cash than what Eric Trump once claimed was “like 50 bucks” per night.

Since former presidents are given Secret Service for life, and Trump didn’t suddenly stop being a con man upon leaving office, that arrangement has obviously not changed—between January 20 and April 30, he billed the Secret Service for $40,011.15, a nice chunk of change considering he could have charged the agency nothing.

But Trump isn’t the only member of his family who is still costing taxpayers outrageous sums of money—his adult children, all of whom are a chip off the old grifter block, are too.

The Washington Post reports that thanks to the 45th president’s order, made during his last days in office, to extend 24/7 security for six months for Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany Trump, and three former officials, taxpayers have been forced to fork over $1.7 million to protect a collection of people who (1) have no role whatsoever in government and (2) can afford to protect themselves. How do the charges break down? Let’s start with Princess Purses and the Boy Prince of New Jersey:

Among the first payments the Secret Service made was to Trump’s own company. That day, the records showed, Ivanka Trump and her family left Washington for Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J.—where Ivanka Trump has a cottage on the grounds. Secret Service agents came along, and Trump’s club charged them for the rooms they used.

The bill was $708.30 for one night, the records showed. The rate appeared to be $141.66 per room, the same rate that the club charged the Secret Service while Trump was still president. In the next six months, the Secret Service spent about $347,000 on airfare, hotels, and rental cars while protecting Ivanka Trump and her husband, former White House adviser Jared Kushner, the records show. The receipts showed the pair visiting resort destinations: Hawaii, Utah ski country, an upscale Wyoming ranch, and Kiawah Island, S.C.

Agents also followed Kushner—now a private businessman—to the United Arab Emirates in May, paying $9,000 for hotel rooms, according to federal spending data posted online. The Secret Service did not say what the airfare costs were for this Kushner trip. The Daily Beast reported that the hotel was the Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi, citing a government spending document that said the hotel was Kushner’s choice.

In other words, taxpayers have been, in part, footing the bill for Javanka’s vacations and for Kushner to play businessman. Spokespeople for the couple did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment, but if they had, perhaps they would have explained why taxpayers are still funding Kushner’s and Ivanka’s security details when the duo reportedly made up to $640 million while working in the White House and can surely pay for such things out of their own pockets. (Another unanswered question: Are Kushner and Ivanka now letting the Secret Service use their bathrooms, or do they still have to find a tree outside when nature calls?)


How about Ivanka’s siblings? It turns out the Trump boys cost slightly less to protect, but not by much, while Tiffany was a downright bargain.

Tiffany Trump, a recently married law school graduate, appeared to cost the least to guard. The partial records showed that, as of May, the Secret Service had spent $56,000 on airfare, rental cars, and hotels while protecting her. The costs of protecting Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were similar: $241,000 for Eric and $213,000 for Trump Jr.

The records showed that the brothers mainly shuttled between their homes in New York and South Florida, with an occasional side trip. Trump Jr. went fishing in Montana. Eric Trump—who has become the most visible leader of the Trump Organization—visited Trump hotels in Washington and Chicago. When he did, just as when his sister visited the Bedminster club, the Trump Organization charged agents who stayed in the former president’s properties: $350 for rooms in Washington, $1,415 in Chicago.
Outside of the Trump family, the former president also hooked up several of his former staffers with six extra months of Secret Service protection, courtesy of taxpayers. That group included his fourth and final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and, most gallingly, former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose tab clocked in at $479,000 and included $114,000 for rooms at a W Hotel in Los Angeles, $23,000 for rooms during business travel in Israel, and $58,000 for rooms and golf carts during three separate vacations Mnuchin took to Cabo San Lucas.

For those of you unfamiliar with the net worths of various Trump officials, Mnuchin is very, very rich and was worth an estimated $400 million as of July 2019. How did he amass such wealth? Through various sources that included his role running a lender called OneWest, which reportedly “carried out more than 36,000 foreclosures during [his] reign,” including one reportedly against a 90-year-old woman who owed the bank 30 cents but accidentally sent a check for 3.

Through a spokesman, Mnuchin told the Post that he hadn’t asked Trump to give him extra protection but chose not to decline it because “government officials advised him to maintain it.” The spokesperson claimed that Mnuchin “intends to reimburse certain expenses” that arose from his extra six months of protection, but conveniently declined to say when Mnuchin planned to do so, or how much of the tab he would pay back.

While the $1.7 million is obviously a drop in the bucket compared to the Secret Service’s $2.4 billion budget, as the Post notes, these are “wealthy adults, with no role in government, whom the agents trailed to ski vacations, weekend houses, a resort in Cabo San Lucas, and business trips abroad.”

“Who wouldn’t enjoy continuing their free limo service and easy access to restaurant tables?” Jim Helminski, a former Secret Service executive, wondered aloud. “Even if there was a credible risk to family and associates of Trump, these people are now private citizens who can afford to hire some very talented private security firms for their personal protection.”


https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/ivanka-eric-don-jr-trump-secret-service-taxpayer-funded