Donald Trump Could Profit From His Own Secret Service Protection

By Jay Caruso | 9:30 AM on November 25, 2016

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Donald Trump was not the typical presidential candidate and before he is sworn in, is proving to be an unconventional President. The Secret Service is looking to rent out space in Trump Tower to set up a command center necessary for first family protection.

As has been reported, Melania Trump and their son Barron, are not going to be moving into the White House in January as is customary. Instead, Melania has indicated she is going to stay in Trump Tower until Barron finishes out the year at his school, Fusion Academy.

The move is likely going to be very costly to taxpayers. This is nothing new of course. Taxpayers have been footing the bill for Presidents and Vice-Presidents alike for years. From The NY Post:

For example, the Secret Service paid Vice President Joe Biden $2,200-a-month, to rent out a cottage next to his Wilmington, Del. home, according to a 2011 article in The Washington Times.

And when President Barack Obama spent summer vacations on Martha’s Vineyard and his annual Christmas vacation to Hawaii, his security detail rented private homes and hotel rooms and set up land and sea perimeters over the short stay.

The same is expected when Trump visits his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as he and his family are doing for the Thanksgiving weekend. Similarly, it cost roughly $2 million a year for the U.S. Coast Guard to station boats off the coast of George H. W. Bush’s Kennebunkport, Maine estate during his presidency.

The lease deal for Trump Tower could cost $3 million a year. The significant difference between this and the other cases? The Secret Service checks would be made out to the Trump Organization.

That’s right. Trump could profit from his own Secret Service protection. The $3 million price tag is only for the lease on the property. It doesn’t include all of the logistical costs associated with the security nightmare of having the first family reside in midtown Manhattan.

Here’s an idea for President-Elect Trump. Instead of foregoing the $400,000 a year presidential salary, why not lease the space in Trump Tower to the Secret Service for $1 a square foot?