CREW requests costs of Trump’s post-presidential visit to his own business

Taxpayers deserve to know the full cost of former President Trump’s continued trips to his own properties and if he is still lining his own pockets with taxpayer funds for costs associated with his post-presidency transition. On March 7-9, 2021, Trump visited his own Trump Tower in New York to “look under the hood” of his businesses, raising questions around the full cost of security and other expenses that taxpayers might have covered. Trump’s history of using the presidency to pad his bottom line also raises questions of whether the government incurred any transition related costs related to Trump’s properties in Florida, Washington D.C. or any other locations.

CREW has requested records on the use of government funds to provide security and any other services during Trump’s March trip to Trump Tower, including but not limited to records of payments to the hotel. CREW has also requested GSA memos and invoices on any agreements between the GSA and Trump and former-Vice President Mike Pence as well as any involving Trump’s properties during the presidential transition.

Over the course of his presidency, Trump visited his properties 547 times, shamelessly promoting his businesses and drawing foreign officials, lobbyists, and GOP donors and politicians who hoped to win influence to his businesses. The Trump family took more than twelve times the amount of protected trips in one year than the Obama family did in seven, and stretched the Secret Service budget so thin that the agency worried that without a budget increase, agents would have to work overtime for free. Trump’s repeated misuse of government resources for his personal gain was perhaps his most consistent abuse of power, and if he is continuing to use taxpayer dollars to fund his travel and security to his own businesses post-presidency, the public deserves to know the full cost.