The millionaire sum that Trump spent on Secret Service agents in his last days in the White House
The ex-president extended the protection of the secret service for four of his children and other members of his circle of trust.
Days before leaving office, Donald Trump made sure his family would continue to receive protection from the United States Secret Service for the next six months, according to reports.
According to the Washington Post, the former president issued a directive to extend post-presidential protection to his four adult children, Ivanka, Don. Jr, Eric and Tiffany, and two of his spouses, who were not automatically entitled to receive it. Trump also reportedly ordered that three key officials leaving the government, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien, will also receive security until July.
Under federal law, Trump, his wife Melania Trump, and his 14-year-old son Barron are the only members of their immediate family entitled to Secret Service protection after leaving office. Trump and Melania will receive Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives, under the Former Presidents Act of 1958. And Barron is entitled to protection until he turns 16.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen will also receive protection for the next six months, under the same law. But the deal signed by Trump, involving his adult children and former key employees, will see them receive 24-hour protection until at least July, in an operation expected to cost millions of dollars.
However, the service will come at no cost to the Trump family - taxpayers will pay the bill in full. Protected under the motion will be Ivanka and her husband Jared, Eric and his wife Lara, Donald Trump Jr., and Tiffany Trump.
Trump's 10 grandchildren will also indirectly receive protection, stemming from being close to their parents, but they were not specifically mentioned in the directive. The extension of security comes as the Secret Service has also mobilized protection details for the families of President Biden and Vice President Harris.
Due to the decree, twenty-four-hour security teams are deployed to protect Biden's two adult children, Hunter and Ashley, and his seven grandchildren, as well as Harris's two stepchildren.
It is common for a president to request extended security protection for immediate family members. Former Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama called for extended protections for their daughters after they left office. However, it is considered unusual for a president to request so many extensions for family members as well as former employees.
During his only term in office, the cost of protecting the Trump family has reportedly had a significant impact on the Secret Service's budget, as his adult children regularly travel across the country and the world for vacations and business. From 2017 to 2019, members of the Trump family reportedly made a total of 4,500 trips that required the Secret Service to accompany them. The price of these trips is believed to have cost the taxpayer tens of millions of dollars.
