Trump-branded properties charged federal government at least $1.2 million, records show
Curt DevineMaegan Vazquez
By Curt Devine and Maegan Vazquez, CNN
Updated 2:16 PM ET, Thu March 12, 2020
(CNN)Businesses owned or branded by President Donald Trump have charged the federal government at least $1.2 million in taxpayer money for various services since 2016, records show.
Hotels, clubs and restaurants owned by Trump or bearing his name have billed various federal agencies and personnel more than $1 million since he became the Republican nominee for president, according to documents obtained by CNN and two nonprofit, government-watchdog organizations, Property of the People and Public Citizen.
The documents, mostly obtained through public records requests, do not offer a complete picture of the US government's total spending at Trump properties, but do shed light on the unique arrangement in which the same agencies Trump presides over as president have repeatedly paid his private businesses for lodging and other services. The documents -- which include invoices from Trump properties, government spreadsheets of expenses and other receipts -- also illustrate how federally funded security and staff precede and follow the President on his travels to his for-profit properties.
The Trump Organization didn't dispute the charges identified by CNN. Instead, Eric Trump, the Trump Organization's executive vice president, characterized them as bargain for the government.
"We provide the rooms at cost and could make far more money renting them to members or guests," Eric Trump said in a statement. "To infer that we are profiting is not only inaccurate but an outright lie," he added.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/trump-branded-properties-charge-taxpayers-a-million-invs/index.html
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