Is Trump’s Business Generating Revenue From Flying Around Secret Service Agents?

Donald Trump is refusing to put his own money into his political campaign, instead relying on funds from supporters around the country. But his businesses are continuing to collect money for various services. The effect: Money from small-dollar donors turns into revenue for Trump. New filings raise the question of whether Trump is also using his campaign to convert Secret Service funds into business revenue.

The agency has paid Trump’s campaign $817,000 for airfare this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission documents released Monday. The Secret Service also owes the campaign an additional $361,000. The campaign has, in turn, paid one of Donald Trump’s companies, Tag Air, $4.2 million of donor money.

It’s not clear whether all of the Secret Service payments cover flights on Trump’s personal aircraft or whether they might also include flights on planes owned by other parties. The biggest airfare provider for Trump’s campaign is Tag Air, in which Donald Trump holds a 100% stake.

The Secret Service has long reimbursed campaigns for airfare, dating back at least as far as 2004. But no candidate has charged as much to the Secret Service as Trump, whose three presidential campaigns have collected a combined $10.1 million from the agency tasked with protecting him.

It’s entirely legal for the Secret Service to pay campaigns. The rate, however, is discretionary. The General Accounting Office wrote in a 2016 report that the payments should not exceed the cost of first-class airfare. That same report found that Trump’s 2016 campaign had submitted incomplete, inaccurate and duplicate flight invoices, which the Secret Service had paid without disputing.

In a 2022 report that included screenshots of receipts, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee also accused the Trump Organization of overcharging the Secret Service for hotel rooms. (Trump was traveling via Air Force One during the span the report covers, so airfare reimbursement was not a concern.)

“Approved invoices are paid within a timely manner, following receipt and review,” said a Secret Service spokesperson, noting that he could not provide a more-specific response on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend.

Trump’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

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