Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has an estimated net worth of more than $300 million. According to Donald Trump, extreme personal wealth was one of the primary qualifications Trump was looking for in his treasury secretary. In fact, Mnuchin is so wealthy, he simply forgot to disclose $100 million in assets until he conveniently remembered the night before his confirmation hearing.
On June 24, Steve Mnuchin and Louise Linton were married in an extravagant wedding that was the social event of the year in D.C., nearly every member of the Trump administration attended. And how did the fabulously wealthy bride and groom celebrate their nuptials? By asking the U.S. taxpayers to pay for a private U.S. government jet to usher them around on their European honeymoon, with stops in Scotland, France and Italy. From ABC News:
Officials familiar with the matter say the highly unusual ask for a U.S. Air Force jet, which according to an Air Force spokesman could cost roughly $25,000 per hour to operate, was put in writing by the secretary's office but eventually deemed unnecessary after further consideration of by Treasury Department officials.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview with ABC News that Mnuchin's request for a government jet on his honeymoon defies common sense.
"You don't need a giant rulebook of government requirements to just say yourself, 'This is common sense, it's wrong,'" Wyden said. "That's just slap your forehead stuff."
The request came to light after investigators began looking into the couple’s trip to Fort Knox, which just happened to be in the path of totality during the widely watched summer eclipse. I mean, sweetie darling, who wouldn’t want to watch a total eclipse while standing atop an estimated $180 billion of gold? Mnuchin’s wife, Louise Linton, shared a photo of the couple deplaning after their eclipse trip, tagging herself with all of her designer wear as they stepped off a private taxpayer-funded jet. She quickly found herself at the center of a firestorm after she lashed out at an Oregon mom who complained about her wealth bragging. Ironically enough, Linton herself brought up the honeymoon trip, asking “Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?”
Awe!!! Did you think this was a personal trip? Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol, I'm pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day 'trip' than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you'd be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. Your kids look very cute. Your life looks cute, I know you're mad but deep down you're really nice and so am I. Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn't going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message filled with wisdom and hunanity [sp?] would get more traction. Have a pleasant evening. Go chill out and watch the new game of thrones. It's fab!
And now we know that Mnuchin and Linton did indeed ask the little people to pay for their European honeymoon.
Just another day of grifters grifting in Trump’s swampy paradise. For more community discussion, see Dartagnan's diary.