Donald Trump keeping some kind of presence in New York City was already looking like it would cause an issue for New York City residents for the near future. Now it turns out that the rest of America might feel some of that pain, as the Secret Service will have to pay Donald Trump to rent space to turn into a high-tech security bunker in Trump Tower.
The Post reports that with Melania and Barron Trump reportedly staying at Trump Tower until the spring, and Donald Trump expressing interest in making frequent returns to his apartment in the building, the Secret Service is looking at renting two floors in Trump Tower to house their own officers, as well as police. A source also told the News that the Secret Service was looking into putting "an operations center" in Trump Tower.
While it's standard for the Secret Service to pay for lodging for its officers when they protect the president outside of Washington, D.C., it's not standard for the payment to go directly to a property owned by the president. The cost for the two floors in Trump Tower could be as high as $3 million per year, according to the Post, a cost that will be born by taxpayers. This would be similar to the Trump campaign paying for a floor of the building, and would also be a much-needed boost for Trump Tower, whose residents might be ditching the building in order to avoid the circus that's developing around it.
So, if you're keeping track at home, Trump now stands to make money off of diplomats trying to get on his good side by staying at his hotels and from the Secret Service apparently not being offered a discount rate to make sure that he and his family are protected during his presidential term. Everything's coming up Donald!
