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Amid wanton budget cuts by the Trump Administration that put thousands of government employees out of work, canceled school lunch programs for needy kids, and zeroed out funding for crucial research into cancer, U.S. taxpayers shelled out for rental cars and hotel rooms as the president’s two eldest sons pursued private business deals in the Middle East.
Federal procurement data reviewed by The Independent shows more than $40,000 in disbursements by the Secret Service, whose agents accompanied Don Jr. and Eric Trump to Qatar and Saudi Arabia this spring, underwritten by the American public.
One transaction, a $13,984 payment arranged by the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, describes the outlay as: “ERIC TRUMP Protective USSS Visit – 4 rental vehicles.”
It was prepared on April 20, and approved on May 13, 2025, the same day President Trump arrived in the kingdom. However, Eric, 41, was not part of the official delegation, according to reports.
A second transaction, for $26,813.24, was arranged by the State Department and funded by the U.S. Embassy in Doha. covered a room for Donald Trump Jr., 47, at The Ned, a 5-star hotel and members-only club located in a building formerly occupied by the Qatari Interior Ministry.
“Trump Jr Visit – May 25 – Team X,” reads the expenditure, which was prepared on May 11 and approved on May 18, 2025, nearly a week after the president was in town.
“Expect tactile furnishings, classical details, and all the essentials for a comfortable home away from home,” the property’s website tells prospective travelers. “Guests enjoy access to Ned’s Club Spa and Gym throughout their stay. Airport transfers in our BMW 7 Series can be arranged upon request.”
Together, lodging and local transportation for Trump’s two adult sons cost taxpayers at least $40,797.24, a figure that does not include air travel, agents’ salaries, meals, and other significant outlays.
A Secret Service spokesman on Monday told The Independent, “We support any of our protectees, that go anywhere in the world, including foreign trips. For these foreign trips, we have personnel on the ground before a protectee gets there, so we may be on the ground several days in advance, working with the local government and local authorities.”
The contracts themselves, such as the hotel rooms and rental cars required for Don Jr. and Eric, are executed on behalf of the Secret Service by U.S. embassies in the destination countries, according to the agency spokesman.
He said the members of the Trump family “are our protectees, we protect them, regardless of where they go. When you’re a protectee, you have round-the-clock protection anywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter what type of trip it is, they’re getting protection.”
The Trump Organization, which is being nominally run by Don Jr. and Eric while their father serves a second term in the White House, recently partnered with a Qatari real estate firm – backed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund – to build a Trump-branded luxury golf resort in the emirate.
The deal was announced two weeks before Trump made the jaunt to Qatar, which subsequently “gifted” the president a $400 million Boeing 747 for his own use.
The Trump family is also developing two new real estate projects in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, as well as a Trump Tower to be erected in Jeddah.
“Combining coastal elegance with urban sophistication, Trump Tower Jeddah delivers an unmatched lifestyle,” read an April 30 press release issued by the Trump Organization. “From refined residences to world-class amenities and personalized service, every detail reflects the signature Trump standard of excellence.”
Two weeks later, the White House formally announced that Saudi Arabia had committed to buying at least $100 billion worth of military equipment from the U.S., and said Qatar had agreed to purchase $200 billion worth of U.S.-built jets from Boeing, as well as some $3 billion in American-made drones from General Atomics and Raytheon.
The trips by Don Jr. and Eric raised numerous questions about the Trump family’s aggressive monetization of the presidency, which administration officials attempted to minimize as a non-issue. During the president’s first term, the Trump Organization vowed not to pursue any foreign deals while the company’s namesake was in office – a promise promptly broken, according to an investigation by anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness.
When Trump returned to the White House in January 2021, he released an ethics agreement that said the Trump Organization would not directly strike any deals with foreign governments. However, it included no prohibition on doing business with private companies abroad, and the president’s family business is now involved in no fewer than 21 Trump-branded projects throughout the world, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or, CREW.
Still, prior to Trump’s Middle East sojourn, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that the notion Trump would personally benefit from his family’s private business pursuits was, in a word, “ridiculous.”
“The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws,” Leavitt said. “The president is a successful businessman, and I think, frankly, that it’s one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office.”
In October 2018, U.S. taxpayers were hit with a $90,000-plus hotel bill for First Lady Melania Trump and her Secret Service detail, who were in Cairo for six hours but did not spend the night.
A vacation to Berlin the previous year by Tiffany Trump, the president’s youngest daughter, cost taxpayers at least $22,000 in hotel stays for the Secret Service agents accompanying her and her boyfriend.
But when the Secret Service traveled with members of the Trump family to Trump-owned hotels, the agency was reportedly charged “exorbitant” markups far above the usual room rate, contradicting Eric Trump’s previous claim that agents were provided lodging “at cost.”
At the same time, a vindictive Trump has sought revenge on officials he believes wronged him during his first term by revoking Secret Service details assigned to protect President Joe Biden’s adult children, along with those looking after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and a host of others.
Craig Holman, a governmental ethics expert at nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen, told The Independent it is “sheer hypocrisy” for security expenses to be provided for Don Jr. and Eric, “but taken away from far more important officials out of favor with Trump.”
During Barack Obama’s time in office, before Trump’s foray into national politics, he raged on Twitter about the cost of providing security for the president and his family, taking aim at supposed “taxpayer funded vacations” costing the American people “millions of dollars.” Yet, according to government spending data compiled by CREW, the Trump family ended up taking 12 times the number of trips the Obamas did, depleting the Secret Service’s protection budget and forcing the agency to request more funding.
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