Secret Service incurred more than $950,000 in expenses for Trump stay at his Scotland resort
The Secret Service incurred more than $950,000 in expenses during President Trump's July 2018 visit to his Trump Turnberry Resort in Scotland, according to a new report from the the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. That includes money spent to rent golf carts during the trip. Just a fraction of the cost went to the president's resort, however.
The exact cost of the trip for the Secret Service is unclear, since the DHS IG could not calculate how much was spent on meals and incidentals and did not say how many Secret Service employees accompanied the president. Although the IG couldn't determine how much the Turnberry property profited from the Trump family's visit, the IG determined that roughly $9,662 for hotel rooms, logistics and golf cart rentals went directly to the resort.
More of the $950,000 figure includes an estimated $316,492 for hotel rooms that were not at Trump Turnberry, including $466,424 for rental cars, $63,744 for commercial airfare, and $84,899 for overtime pay, according to the IG.
Mr. Trump's stop in Scotland was part of a European trip that included Scotland, Belgium England and Finland. Senators Tom Carper and Elizabeth Warren, and the late chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee Elijah Cummings requested the IG's review in 2018.
"American taxpayers should not be on the hook for President Trump's golf weekend to a property he owns as a private businessman," Warren, Carper and now-House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said in a statement. "The president has consistently abused the levers of government to promote his own personal enrichment, and we are calling on him today to reimburse the American people for the more than $1 million price tag for this unnecessary and wasteful trip. This is their money—not his—and he should return it to them immediately."
The DHS IG report comes after the Pentagon spent at least $184,000 at President Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland over the course of two years, according to documents provided to the House Oversight and Reform Committee in 2019.
Mr. Trump's Turnberry location has struggled financially, as have some of his other properties. Mr. Trump has been criticized for allowing his properties to charge the Secret Service for expenses like golf carts during his visits.