Eric Trump went down to Uruguay this past month. He was making his first forays into being a big boy, representing the Trump Organization abroad. The best part is that the Trump Organization didn’t even have to cover it all!
When the president-elect’s son Eric Trump jetted to Uruguay in early January for a Trump Organization promotional trip, U.S. taxpayers were left footing a bill of nearly $100,000 in hotel rooms for Secret Service and embassy staff.
It was a high-profile jaunt out of the country for Eric, the fresh-faced executive of the Trump Organization who, like his father, pledged to keep the company separate from the presidency. Eric mingled with real estate brokers, dined at an open-air beachfront eatery and spoke to hundreds at an “ultra exclusive” Trump Tower Punta del Este evening party celebrating his visit.
And while $100K, in the scheme of the United States budget, is chicken feed, let’s all realize that this jaunt was only two days.
The bill for the Secret Service’s hotel rooms in Uruguay totaled $88,320. The U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, paid an additional $9,510 for its staff to stay in hotel rooms to “support” the Secret Service detail for the “VIP visit,” according to purchasing orders reviewed by The Washington Post.
Nothing says “I am free and clear of conflicts of interest” like walking into a business meeting with a goddamn Secret Service detail … because your dad and de facto head of your company is the president of the United States of America.