The Unprecedented Amount Of Soaking The American Taxpayer Continues
'Virtually unheard of': Why Jared Kushner’s recent Abu Dhabi visit cost American taxpayers almost $13,000
Although members of former President Donald Trump's family have been gone from the White House for almost four months, they continue to enjoy the taxpayer-funded protection of the U.S. Secret Service — including Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a former White House senior adviser for the Trump Administration. Kushner recently visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and the Daily Beast reported that according to U.S. State Department documents, the Secret Service protection he enjoyed during that trip cost American taxpayers $12,950.
Vanity Fair's Bess Levin, in a column published on May 17, explains, "If you only got your news from Donald Trump's new social media website, a.k.a. blog, or by watching the speeches he gives to wedding guests and random passersby at Mar-a-Lago like an old man shouting at an empty blender, you might think he was still president. In fact, he is not, but the U.S. is still paying for Secret Service protection for all of his adult children and their families — which is why, when former first son-in-law Jared Kushner took a little trip to the Middle East last month, it cost taxpayers nearly $13,000."
Kushner, Levin notes, stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi from May 5-14 and enjoyed Secret Service protection the whole time.
Levin, writing with the biting sarcasm that she is known for, observes, "While $13,000 sounds like a large chunk of change for taxpayers to cover for an extremely wealthy private citizen, it was actually a lot less than what Americans had to fork over for Kushner's last overseas visit as first son-in-law, which cost taxpayers at least $24,335 in hotel fares alone, not including the tab for flights, local transportation and meals, as well as salary and overtime for Kushner's Secret Service detail, per the Daily Beast. Or the sum the U.S. is expected to shell out for the entire Trump clan over the next few months."
The Vanity Fair columnist goes on to say, "As the Daily Beast notes, it is 'virtually unheard of' for former administration officials, like Jared and Ivanka, to keep their Secret Service protection after they leave office, just as it is 'highly unusual,' per the Washington Post, for a president to provide 24-hour security to so many adult family members, particularly the kind who take personal trips all over the world, in addition to travel related to their work at the Trump Organization." Trump even nodded for security for former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, as reported by Washington Post.
These costs, however, are excluding the cost for security at Trump properties in New Jersey, Palm Beach and Briarcliff, New York, revealed a watchdog group Citizens for Ethics. If the cost for trump properties is also included, the security cost would have been much higher, the group claimed.
Since leaving office, in transport alone, the Trump clan had spent $52,296.75 and at least $88,678.39 for hotel services while travelling.
Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law — Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner —went for a luxurious 10-day vacation to Utah immediately after finishing their jobs at the White House. The trip cost the secret service alone $62,599.
While Eric and Lara Trump spent the majority of their time at Trump’s Briarcliff property, their short trips to New York, Miami and Palm Beach, too, cost the service $12,742. Donald Trump Jr also made up a bill of $13,337 from his trips to New York.
If the clan keeps travelling in the same way, the total post-presidency cost could easily cross one million, which is the highest till now.
The group has also revealed that the Trump clan has gone on 12 times the amount of trips that the Obamas made. The Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually. Much of the Trump family’s known travel has been to promote Trump Organization businesses, which President Trump still owns and profits from. Every President and his family deserve Secret Service protection. But the President’s private business should reimburse taxpayers for money spent at Trump’s businesses or in support of them.
All this travel has cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. The Washington Post reported that in 2017 the Secret service requested an additional $60 million for the year to pay for protective travel for President Trump, Vice President Pence, visiting heads of state and the Trump family. $26.8 million was set aside to protect Trump’s family and their residence at Trump Tower.
“While it may be tempting to put the story of the Trump family’s profiteering in the past, we cannot until they have actually stopped directing taxpayer money into their own bank accounts,” the group said.
