Documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday make the claim that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service “exorbitant rates” to stay at Trump hotels while protecting the former president and his family.
According to records released by the panel, Trump’s company charged the Secret Service “excessive nightly rates on dozens of trips.” In one particular instance in November 2017, when Donald Trump Jr. stayed at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the hotel charged the Secret Service a rate of $1,185 per night, which was nearly six times the government rate of $201.
All told, the records show that between Jan. 20, 2017, and Sept. 15, 2021, the Secret Service spent more than $1.4 million at Trump-owned properties in the United States, with the agency being charged a nighly rate greater than the government’s per diem figure at least 40 times. The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the chair of the Oversight committee, wrote in a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Maloney went on to note that the $1.4 million figure “does not appear to account for all Secret Service payments to Trump properties” and the Oversight committee “is continuing to seek a full accounting of this spending.”
Maloney says the charges were incurred despite comments that from the Trump Organization that federal employees traveling with Trump could stay at his properties “for free” or “at cost.”
In a statement to Spectrum News, Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and the former president’s son, disputed the panel’s findings.
“Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free,” Eric Trump said in a statement. “The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels — they are amazing men and women.”
In 2019, Eric Trump said that the company charges the government reduced rates during visits from the president: “If my father travels, they stay at our properties for free.”
“So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50,” he continued.
He made a similar claim in 2020, per the panel: “We provide the rooms at cost and could make far more money renting them to members or guests.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service told NBC News that the agency has received the letter and would respond directly to the committee.
Spectrum News has reached out to the former president’s office for further comment.
