Why Would a Billionaire Charge the Secret Service $650 a Night?

A bit over a week old but I missed it earlier. Interesting read.



Why Would a Billionaire Charge the Secret Service $650 a Night?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/markets/why-would-a-billionaire-charge-the-secret-service-dollar650-a-night/ar-BBZLxGs?ocid=News


David A. Graham 2/7/2020


Editor's note:....................

Last year, Eric Trump was asked about Secret Service protection at Trump Organization properties.

“If my father travels, they stay at our properties for free,” he said. “So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50.”

You will be stunned to learn this is not remotely true.

Instead, as the indefatigable David Fahrenthold and three colleagues at The Washington Post chronicle in his latest scoop on the president’s business, the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service (in other words, the taxpayer) between $400 and $650 per night to stay at Mar-a-Lago while guarding the president. At another Trump property, his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, the Secret Service was billed $17,000 per month for a small cottage, even when the president wasn’t present. These are just snapshots. Despite heroic public-records work by the Post, there’s still no complete picture of just what the Trump Organization is charging the Secret Service.

It’s no longer news per se that the Trump Organization is profiteering from the presidency. .......................
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New or not, the question remains: Why does a billionaire charge the Secret Service $650 to stay at his property?

The issue is not whether taxpayers should pay for presidential protection. They should, unequivocally. The question is about the cost. As the Post notes, other presidents who allowed the Secret Service to use their properties, including both George Bushes and Bill Clinton, didn’t charge them. None of those presidents owned a for-profit business while serving as president, either.

a man standing in front of a building: A Secret Service agent stands watch at Mar-a-Lago.© Carolyn Kaster / AP A Secret Service agent stands watch at Mar-a-Lago.

Perhaps only Trump knows the answer to why he’s charging so much. But here are a few theories as to why so rich a man would gouge his bodyguards and constituents:

The president is simply a penny-pinching cheapo. ..................
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The profiteering is the point (with apologies to my colleague Adam Serwer). Trump’s presidential run was conceived more as a publicity stunt than a serious policy initiative. He set out to make money, and if winning the election wasn’t really part of the plan, that didn’t mean it didn’t contribute to the ultimate goal.

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It’s about defiance. So many of Trump’s actions can easily be explained as trolling, or at least as a kiss-off. If you tell him he can’t do something, he’ll do it. What other explanation is there for announcing, in the midst of an impeachment investigation over abuse of power, that you’ll direct a major international summit to your own resort? Some people will be appalled by the charges, but there’s nothing they can do. When you're a president, they let you do it. You can do anything.




He feels he’s entitled. The extravagant charges are hypocritical because Trump has made great show of donating his presidential salary. He has insisted that the presidency is a money-loser for him, depriving him of a chance to make money elsewhere. It’s impossible to assess this claim—Trump hasn’t released documents to back it up, and his reputation for honesty speaks for itself.................................

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He’s not really a billionaire. Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg was recently asked whether Americans really wanted to watch two billionaires fight on Twitter. “Two billionaires? Who's the second one?” Bloomberg quipped. Questions about Trump’s real net worth have circulated for years. When journalist Tim O’Brien (now a Bloomberg adviser) reported in 2005 that Trump was worth more like $250 million, Trump sued him for $5 billion. (The suit was dismissed.) Whenever any investigation has gotten near Trump’s business, he’s gone ballistic. Or perhaps the better explanation is that…...................
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He’s a paper billionaire with a cash-flow problem. Trump may well be worth billions on paper, but his empire is built on borrowing; he once called himself the king of debt. That means he has to service his loans, for which he needs cash. But several of his businesses seem to be struggling to bring in money, which could mean he struggles to move cash out the door, too..........................................................


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One of the few hotels that seems to be thriving is the Trump International Hotel in D.C. (though even it has its own struggles). Yet the Trump Organization is looking to sell the lease on the hotel, for a record sum. On paper that seems illogical: Why would the Trump Organization sell a property that’s thriving? And if it’s thriving because of its connection to the president, why would another operator pay a huge price for value that will dry up once it’s sold? One answer would be that the Trump Organization is seeking a large cash infusion, so that it can continue to service its debts.

Charging $650 per night for Secret Service agents doesn’t add up to the reported $500 million asking price for the D.C. hotel. But Trump has spent roughly a third of his presidency staying at his own properties, and all the nights there start to add up to a steady stream of cash coming in, from captive buyers. Just how much is unclear, though, because neither the Trump Organization nor the government will tell.................................