TRUMP CHARGED SECRET SERVICE $40,000 FOR USE OF MAR-A-LAGO SPACE

Former President Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than $40,000 this spring for rooms that Trump’s own protective detail used while guarding him at his Mar-a-Lago Club, according to federal spending records, David A. Farenthold and Josh Dawsey reported for Washington Post.

The records show that Trump’s club charged the Secret Service $396.15 every night starting Jan. 20, the day he left the White House and moved full-time into his Palm Beach, Florida club.

Those charges, ultimately paid by taxpayers, continued until at least April 30, the spending records show, for a total of $40,011.15.

The charges were for a single room used as a workspace by Secret Service agents, according to one person familiar with the payments. Secret Service pays rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump’s properties, documents show.

The Secret Service released spending records up to April 30. Trump stayed at Mar-a-Lago more than a week beyond that before moving to his Bedminster, N.J., club for the summer. It was unclear whether he continued to charge the Secret Service into May.

Records documenting the charges were released by the Secret Service in response to a public-records request from The Washington Post.

They are the first evidence that Trump has continued a controversial and lucrative practice — charging rent to his own protectors — into his post-presidency.

While he was president, Trump’s properties charged the US government more than $2.5 million, often so that Secret Service agents could use rooms near him.

The rate Trump billed the Secret Service at his Florida resort is the same as the $396.15-per-room rate he charged as president.

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