Taxpayers Paid Thousands For Eric Trump’s Trips To Scotland
Reprinted with permission from Alternet
Former President Donald Trump is at the center of controversy as a new report details how he and members of his family benefited financially from his time in the White House.
According to a new report published by The Scotsman, U.S. taxpayers were left to foot the bill for Trump and his family members' trips to his foreign luxury golf resorts in Turnberry and Doonbeg. The publication reports that the invoices were obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based ethics watchdog organization American Oversight under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The report shows a number of invoices adding up to thousands of dollars for the former first family. One invoice, dated August 14, 2017, had a total cost of approximately $7,000 — equivalent to £5,400. Although it remains unclear who may have visited the resort at that particular time, Trump's younger son Eric did travel there later that month.
In addition to that invoice, there were other invoices from Trump's resort totally approximately £5,310 and £6,680. Those invoices were to cover the cost of Secret Service travel accommodations during Eric's stay.
According to the report, "US taxpayers were charged thousands of dollars for luxury-car rentals during Eric's visit in July 2017."
Austin Evers, the executive director of American Oversight, weighed in with his concerns about the charges to U.S. taxpayers. "No one objects to the Trump family receiving Secret Service protection," Evers said, adding, "but every time they charge their security detail to stay at a Trump hotel, thousands of taxpayer dollars line their pockets."
The latest comes just months after the former president faced scrutiny over the conflicts of interest between his businesses and the presidency. Throughout Trump's time in office, he reportedly had a pattern of charging U.S. taxpayers for his stays at his own properties. The former president is said to have received at least $8 million from U.S. taxpayers.
The Trump Organization has not yet responded to the latest report.
