Ivanka Trump and her adult siblings, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump are all waking up today with a much different reality than the last four years — no Secret Service protection. After any typical administration, the family members of the outgoing president see their security detail ended as the change of power happens, but not with the Trump family. Donald made sure that they had an extra six months — all at the American taxpayers’ expense.
The change happened on Tuesday at 12:01 p.m. ET for Donald’s adult children and their spouses, per National Zero. The next Trump family member to lose their security will be son Barron, who has it until March 2022 when he turns 16 years old. (Donald and Melania are protected for life.) Former Vice President Mike Pence and wife Karen also saw the end of their Secret Service protection, but their extra six months are par for the course for an outgoing VP — it wasn’t a Trump decision.
The costs associated with Donald’s extended family were quite extraordinary during his administration. According to Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), the final two years of Trump’s time in office required 3,249 protected trips for the Secret Service. In comparison, the Obamas had 933 trips with security detail over seven years. So the move that the former president made to extend protection for his adult children only added to an already high tab. Continue reading.