Trump International Hotel In Washington, D.C. (Photo: WIkimedia)
The Trump Organization charged the federal government up to $1,185 per night for hotel rooms used by Secret Service agents serving former President Donald Trump and his family, a House investigation revealed on Monday revealed.
The rate is almost six times the normal maximum rate the federal government pays for traveling employees.
The documents review, conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, shows that the Secret Service paid more than $1.4 million to Trump’s company since the former president took office in 2017.
The number could be higher since the review didn’t include payments to Trump’s foreign properties and the review stopped in September 2021.
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The records reviewed by the panel show that the Trump International Hotel in Washington charged Secret Service often more than $600 per night.
In 2017, the same hotel charged $1,185 for a room used by agents protecting Donald Trump Jr. The government rate was $201.
Rates charged by Trump hotels to public officials are under public scrutiny since he was still the president.
In 2019, Eric Trump, the president’s son who was in charge of the family business during the Trump administration, said the rates charged the government “like $50” per night to justify the decision to hold the G-20 summit in Trump’s golf club.
In a statement responding to the panel’s findings, Eric Trump repeated that the Trump Organization provided rooms “at cost, heavily discounted or for free.” He did not address the rates he claimed the family’s hotel charge and the prices revealed in the records.
“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,” the younger Trump said.
The Secret Service said the agency said it would respond to the findings directly to the committee.
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