The Secret Service paid more than $33,000 to Donald Trump ‘s hotel in Washington, D.C., to rent a room while Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was living there for several months in 2017, a new report claims.
The report from The Washington Post claimed that the agency rented a room next to Mnuchin’s in order to screen his packages and visitors for potential security threats. The report obtained billing records that showed the Trump International Hotel charged the Secret Service a total of $242 per night, the maximum rate federal agencies are typically allowed to pay when renting rooms. Sources told The Washington Post it is considered standard practice for the Secret Service to rent a room to protect government officials when they stay away from home.
The report found that the Secret Service rented the room for a total of 137 nights, leading to a final bill of $33,154 that was ultimately paid by American taxpayers.
Mnuchin stayed at the Trump Organization’s flagship hotel in Washington while he was looking to purchase a home in the capital. The secretary, who has an estimated net worth of $300 million, paid for his suite with his own money and negotiated a discounted room rate with the hotel, the report claimed.
A spokesperson for Mnuchin’s office said he was not aware of what the Secret Service paid for the adjoining room.
Trump has come under fire for what critics say is improper spending from government officials at his company’s properties, especially as he did not divest from his business interests as past presidents have done. A February report from The Washington Post found that the Secret Service has paid up to $650 per night for rooms at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and $17,000 a month for a cottage at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he often vacations in the summer.
Before the coronavirus pandemic required him to stay in the White House, Trump would regularly spend long weekends at Mar-a-Lago and week-long vacations at his Bedminster property, which critics said filtered more taxpayer money into his own company.
In 2018, the Secret Service reportedly paid $54,000 for tents used at a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago — one that Trump ultimately did not attend as he remained in Washington during the federal government shutdown. The Secret Service was in charge of security arrangements for the party.
In total, The Washington Post discovered the Secret Service has paid $126,000 to Trump’s D.C. hotel between January 2017 and February 2018, including a one night payment on June 28, 2017 for $33,638 — a charge that has yet to be explained.
