Former President Donald Trump was charging the United States Secret Service five times the rate for a night at one of his hotels. During his presidency, he charged almost $1200 a night for lodging at the Trump International Hotel in D.C.

What we know:

According to the Post, there are also reports that his Secret Service team was given waivers to allow the agency to pay more than what was allotted for nightly stays at hotels in the D.C. area.

Representative Carolyn Maloney sent a letter to Director Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service stating the charges made by the Trump Organization were “exorbitant”. Also noting, the agents were having frequent stays at mostly Trump-owned properties which is raising eye brows on how the public’s tax dollars have been spent on President Trump’s businesses.

Back in 2020 the Washington Post wrote in an article that the Secret Service was paying $650 a night while guarding the president during routine trips to his office.

After the article was released a spokesperson for Trump told PEOPLE that the story was “total nonsense.” Stating,  “We provide the rooms at cost and could make far more money renting them to members or guests. To infer that we are profiting is not only inaccurate but an outright lie.”

Reoccurring drama:

Photo Credit: Gautam Krishnan

However, recently revealed expense reports show multiple times when Trump’s company charged the agency $1160 in April 2017. Ater agents protected Eric Trump and his family at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. Then similar charges happened again once Donald Trump Jr. stayed at the same hotel in November of the same year.

The president’s son, Eric who is also executive vice president of the Trump Organization disputed the claims. He states the agents stayed for free at all of their properties.

When Eric spoke to the Post he had more to say on the matter. “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.”

Eric Trump stands by what he claims:

Eric continued to stand his ground, “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.”

“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,” according to Eric Trump.

The Post has also reported that the files “do not cover all Secret Service expenses at Trump properties during his presidency and reflect only a fraction of those expenses since he left office,” and former President Donald Trump only visited “more than 500 times during his presidency.”

Since January 21st, after Trump’s departure from office, the Secret Service continues to protect him as it is customary. However, the Secret Service are still lodging at Trump Organization properties till this day.