All Of The Drama Surrounding The Trump Family And Their Secret Service Detail
Remember when Eric Trump told Yahoo Finance that Trump businesses often gave huge discounts to the Secret Service agents who protected them? "If [our Secret Service details] were to go to a hotel across the street," he said, "they'd be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know, we charge them, like $50." Well, like many claims made by the Trumps, this has turned out to be false. A report from The Washington Post shows that they sometimes charged the Secret Service agents up to $1,185 per night for their D.C. hotel rooms. For comparison, the typical cost was around $195 to $240.
The Trump family also spent a whopping 12 times more than the Obamas did on Secret Service protection during trips, per Citizens for Ethics. While the Obamas took about 133.3 trips annually, the Trump family's numbers were around 1,625 per year, and many of the trips were reportedly for Trump's personal businesses. Amusingly, Donald Trump Jr. called out one of Hunter Biden's biggest controversies on X, formerly Twitter, slamming him for costing U.S. taxpayers $30,000 for protection monthly, even though Donald Trump's administration spent more than $3 million on protection for each visit to Mar-a-Lago.
Donald Trump extended Secret Service protection to other family members and friends
Personal trips aside, Donald Trump's family also cost the Secret Service a pretty penny. Toward the end of his tenure, Donald directed the agency to protect his family for half a year even though they were older than 16 and therefore no longer eligible for taxpayer-funded protection — not to mention how easily they could have afforded to foot the bill themselves.
The Washington Post reported that the Secret Service was instructed to protect all Trump children and their spouses. Donald's order of protection also included three former government officials, Steven Mnuchin, Robert O'Brien, and Mark Meadows, whose old texts landed him in hot water and revealed his involvement in the Capitol riot.
Former Secret Service administrative official Jim Helminski pointed out that the former president's order benefited wealthy individuals who were not government officials and could afford out-of-pocket protection. However, a source told People Magazine that the six-month protection was to help Donald's family and friends "transition" to life without White House privileges. The former POTUS' generous gift slammed taxpayers with a $1.7 million bill.
Vanessa and Tiffany Trump allegedly had inappropriate relationships with Secret Service agents
The drama surrounding the Trump family and their Secret Service detail extends beyond financial issues into the realm of romance, per Carol Leonnig's book, "Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service." Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-wife, Vanessa Trump, was allegedly "inappropriately close" to a security agent. Although the author doesn't state if Don Jr. and Vanessa were together at the time, some reports allege that Vanessa left her ex-husband for the agent.
Leonnig alleges that Vanessa and the agent didn't get into trouble because the agency wasn't protecting her at the time, but this reportedly wasn't the same for Tiffany Trump. The author claimed she "began spending an unusual amount of time alone" with another Secret Service agent who was eventually transferred to another job.
Responding to the allegations, Tiffany dismissed the rumors as gossip and denied inappropriate behavior. On the other hand, Vanessa made no public comments and kept her love life well under wraps until February 2024. Per the Daily Mail, she was spotted with a Secret Service agent who used to protect her family. There were no public displays of affection, but connecting the dots, it sure makes one wonder.