Presidential Protection Costing Big Bucks Says NYPD, Palm Beach Police
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PALM BEACH (CBSMiami) -- What price are American tax payers having to pay to protect the president and his family of frequent travelers?
"We want our money back."
That's what the New York City Police Dept. and Palm Beach County Police officials are saying, asking to be reimbursed for millions of dollars -- the cost of protecting the president, his family and their homes.
In a letter to New York congressional members last month, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neal wrote:
"Funding will be critical to ensure New York City can allocate the personnel and resources that are necessary to keep the city and all its residents safe."
Mayor Bill de Blasio talked about these challenges back in December.
"We have never had a situation where a President of the United States would be here on such a regular basis," the mayor said.
During the transition period from Election Day to Inauguration Day, O'Neal said the cost of securing Trump Tower and the area around it added up to $24 million.
Palm Beach County officials said they spend an estimated $60,000 in over-time every day Trump spends in Florida, protecting him while he's at his Mar-a-Lago home.
That's a bill local taxpayers will have to pay if the federal government, or Trump himself, doesn't reimburse.
Supporters of the president say he is often working during his trips to Mar-a-Lago, even calling it the "Winter White House." But Mr. Trump, himself, had harsh words for his predecessor's trips.
In 2011, Trump tweeted out:
During the election, Trump also told the publication, "The Hill," that he would "rarely leave the White House because there's so much work to be done."
So far, Trump has spent more than a fourth of his time in office at Mar-a-Lago.
There are more moving parts for the Secret Service when it comes to the first family. Trump has multiple homes, his adult children travel frequently, and his wife, Melania, and their son, Barron, live in New York City. The decision to stay, says the NYPD, costs the department up to $146,000 a day.
