What if Donald Trump had 18 children? How many Secret Service agents would have been dedicated to protecting them? There is something very wrong when $76,859.36 of our taxpayer dollars, according to BBC, went to accompanying Donald Trump Jr. on a hunting expedition to Mongolia. He killed a protected, rare argali sheep at night, using a laser. It was not for sport. The sheep had no chance. But wait. It gets worse, much worse.
The Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) watchdog group accused the Trump family of taking an average of “1,000 more trips per year, many for leisure, than the previous first family:”
‘This trip is just one example of the expenses the Trump family is incurring with American taxpayers, and if just one of Don Jr’s trophy hunting trips cost more than $75,000, it’s staggering to think how high the total bill must be.’
CREW obtained Secret Service records that indicated that in only 30 days after Trump stepped down, his kids racked up over $140,000 in travel expenses. Keep in mind, that was not including money racked up in “Bedminster, Palm Beach, and Briarcliff, New York.”
Normally, the children of a previous president have not been entitled to Secret Service protection. It came as no surprise, though, that the ex extended that protection, plus that of three of his top appointees, out to six months.
That extra six months of protection cost American taxpayers $140,000. As CREW reported earlier:Â
‘The Trump family took 12 times as many protected trips as the Obama family did per year.’
All of Trump’s adult children traveled at the speed of breakneck, knocked up huge hotel and transportation expenses, and sent the bill to the Secret Service:
‘The transportation amounted to $52,296.75, and hotel costs totalled at least $88,678.39, according to the records.’
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump immediately headed off to Salt Lake City with three of their own children for a 10-day vacation. The cost? We paid $62,599.39 for just the hotel stay. Then, they hustled down to Miami for a whole month in February, only interrupted by a hop up to Trump’s Bedminster resort from February 19-21.
Eric and Lara Trump spent most of February in New York at the Trump Briarcliff property. Their little hops to Queens, Miami, and Palm Beach twice cost the Secret Service a minimum of $12,742.
Donald Trump Jr. traveled to New York City, Long Island, and Upstate New York. Then, he joined Eric in Palm Beach. The cost at those trips was a minimum of least $13,337, not counting time at the Trump resorts.
At that rate:
‘[T]he full six months could cost taxpayers nearly $1 million. Unfortunately, the records appear to not even be a complete accounting of the costs, since the Secret Service did not provide records of spending at Trump businesses, which is the most controversial aspect of the extended protection.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
