The Defense Department spent more than $138,000 at various Trump-branded properties during President Trump’s first six months in office, according to records obtained by a government watchdog group.
Property of The People filed a Freedom of Information Act request, which produced the documents revealing the DOD’s $138,093.23 total charges at thirteen Trump properties, including $58,875.69 at Mar-a-Lago, $35,652.44 at Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel, and $17,102.55 in expenditures at the troubled Trump Ocean Club in Panama.
According to the documents, shared with the Washington Examiner, the charges spanned from the president’s first day in office through June 14, 2017 and covered general lodging and dining expenses at these locations.
The watchdog group said the expenses raise serious concerns as to whether the president is violating the U.S. Constitution, specifically the Domestic Emoluments Clause.
“With the DOD’s spending at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties, and Trump’s refusal to divest from his sprawling business empire, once again we find the president’s hand deep in the taxpayer’s pocket,” Property of the People co-founder, Ryan Shapiro, said.
Shapiro argued that Trump’s “open contempt for transparency” opens himself up to conflicts of interest and corruption.
DoD spokesman Tom Crosson told the Washington Examiner that his agency followed “all applicable rules and regulations governing official government travel,” including government per diem rates limiting travel spending.
Crosson said lodging choices are not “brand-driven” and federal regulations only allows them to spend a certain amount of money per night.
The watchdog group previously revealed through another FOIA request that employees from the General Service Administration had spent thousands of dollars at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. The GSA also said their employees acted in accordance with government travel guidlines and per diem travel rates.
