- Newly released records show that the Secret Service spent more than $250,000 at Trump properties during the first five months of Trump's presidency.
- These new records offered new insight into federal spending, as documents reviewed in the past showed that federal spending at Trump properties amounted to just $84,000 in the first five months of his term.
- But these new records show expenses racked up on Secret Service credit cards, amounting to another $254,000 spent by just one agency.
- Some of the dates on the spending records even appear to align with the weekend trips Trump has taken to his golf resorts.
- "On April 2, 2017, for instance, Trump played golf at his club in suburban Virginia — a short drive from the White House," The Washington Post reported. "That day, the records show, the Secret Service made five separate payments to "Trump National Golf Club" totaling $26,802, the records show."
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Newly released records show that the Secret Service spent more than $250,000 at Trump properties during the first five months of Trump's presidency.
Records reviewed in the past showed that federal spending at Trump properties amounted to just $84,000 in the first five months of his term. But these newly released documents, which detail expenses made on Secret Service credit cards, amounted to $254,000, The Washington Post reported.
Though the records do not detail what was purchased, each expense line details the date of the purchase and the name of the Trump property where it was made. The Post reported that in some cases, it matches with the president's visits to his own properties.
"On April 2, 2017, for instance, Trump played golf at his club in suburban Virginia — a short drive from the White House," The Post reported. "That day, the records show, the Secret Service made five separate payments to "Trump National Golf Club" totaling $26,802, the records show."
The records were obtained by Property of the People in an open-records lawsuit, The Post reported.
"Donald Trump views the American public as a bunch of marks waiting to be fleeced," Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People, told The Post. "Due to his overt self-dealing and refusal to divest from his sprawling business empire, Donald Trump has turned the American presidency into a racket."
The president has been criticized for putting federal spending into his own properties. In late October, Trump backed down from hosting the 2020 G7 summit at his Doral resort after backlash that he called "'Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility." Experts said his plan to host the summit at one of his company's properties would potentially violate the Constitution's emoluments clauses due to conflict of interest.
The White House and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
- Read more:
- US government reportedly spent at least $60,000 at Trump's Scottish golf resort
- The Trump campaign has now spent more than $850,000 since last year at his properties
- Here's how Trump reportedly spent $3.6 million on his 'convenient' two-day visit to Ireland
- Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort where Trump has spent 25 days since taking office, sees huge boost in revenue
- U.S. pays Trump's Scotland golf resort $77,000 ahead of visit
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