family perks

Ivanka gets six more months of Secret Service protection because Trump said so right before he left

In his last remaining minutes as President of the United States, Donald Trump signed a memorandum extending his adult children’s Secret Service protection for an additional six months.

Under law, only he and Melania are entitled to lifelong protection. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Barron, as a minor, is entitled to two years of protection following his father’s departure from the White House.

(All of this is assuming, of course, that Trump isn’t convicted by the Senate in his upcoming second impeachment trial. If he is then he’ll lose all post-presidential benefits, including his elite security detail.)

Protection for Trump’s adult children was set to expire once Biden took office. But the Washington Post reports that taxpayers will continue funding 24-hour security until June for Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and their three kids, as well as with Donald Trump Jr. and his five kids, and Eric and Lara Trump.

Oh, and Tiffany. We almost forgot about her.

Former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien are also getting extra protection under Trump’s last minute memorandum.

This little perk for the Trump klan is expected to cost taxpayers millions of dollars and will likely put a strain on the federal security force.

The Secret Service was already forced to hire almost four dozen additional full-time agents during Trump’s time in office just to accommodate his family’s excessive security demands due to their frequent vacations, golf outings, and shopping sprees.

Government records show Trump’s family took more than 4,500 trips between 2017 and 2019. The Secret Service was required to travel with them every time, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

The agency also had to pay $3,000 a month to rent a toilet for Ivanka’s security detail since she wouldn’t let them use any of the six and a half bathrooms in her mansion.

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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