Trump's son's trip to Mongolia that has cost Americans $ 75,000
He traveled to Asia with part of his family to hunt an Argali ram, an endangered animal
In August 2019, Donald Trump Jr. went on a trip to Mongolia. There he was part of an expedition to hunt Argali sheep, an indigenous animal from that part of Asia that is in danger of extinction. However, although it was the Trump family who took care of the expenses, the trip cost the Americans $ 75,000, a figure that is now being the subject of controversy in the United States. An NGO called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) warned that an amount slightly higher than $ 75,000 came from the pockets of US taxpayers. The reason is that, although the trip was paid privately, it is the Secret Service that is in charge of the security of the president's family, and that Secret Service works with public funds
That security is optional. That is, the members of the president's family can choose whether or not they need protection. Speaking to the BBC, the NGO that has uncovered the matter says that "as the son of the president, Donald Trump Jr. has the right to the protection of the Secret Service and must be protected. But taxpayers deserve to know how much they are paying to facilitate their search of trophies and interactions with major political donors and foreign leaders. "
They travel ten times more than the Obamas
CREW asked for information on two occasions to find out the expense that had been caused to taxpayers by that hunting trip. The first time the expenditure was said to be $ 17,000, although the NGO described it as "insufficient" because it did not include the flights or logistics necessary for the meeting that took place during the trip with the President of Mongolia, Jaltma Battulga, in the city of Ulaanbaatar. The second, spending was increased by another $ 60,000, so CREW concluded that the exact cost was $ 76,859, about 67,500 euros to change.
However, CREW still believes that new expenses could be added to that trip, had the State Department been involved as well. It is also investigating whether the Department of Homeland Security granted special permission for animals that Donald Trump jr. hunted during that trip could be brought into the United States. On that trip, Donald Trump's son was accompanied by part of his family, including his young son. According to the NGO CREW, the Trump family travels ten times more than the Obamas did during the eight years they were in the White House. They make about a thousand trips a year, many of them for pleasure, so the Secret Service constantly has budget problems due to the expenses that these trips entail.
