Eric Trumps business trip to Uruguay cost taxpayers $97,830 in hotel bills

[riversedge]

Source: washington post





By Amy Brittain and Drew Harwell February 3 at 4:12 PM



When the president-elect’s son, Eric Trump, jetted to Uruguay in early January for a Trump Organization promotional trip, U.S. taxpayers were left footing a bill of nearly $100,000 in hotel rooms for Secret Service and embassy staff.

It was a high-profile jaunt out of the country for Eric, the fresh-faced executive of the Trump Organization who, like his father, pledged to keep the company separate from the presidency. Eric mingled with real estate brokers, dined at an open-air beachfront eatery and spoke to hundreds at an “ultra exclusive” Trump Tower Punta del Este evening party celebrating his visit.

The Uruguayan trip shows how the government is unavoidably entangled with the Trump company as a result of the president’s refusal to divest his ownership stake. In this case, government agencies are forced to pay to support business operations that ultimately help to enrich the president himself. Though the Trumps have pledged a division of business and government, they will nevertheless depend on the publicly funded protection granted to the first family as they travel the globe promoting their brand.

[An early test of Trump’s ethics pledge is a glittering new foreign tower]

A spokeswoman for Eric Trump declined to make him available for an interview and did not provide answers to a list of detailed questions about the trip...............................

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/eric-trumps-trip-to-uruguay-cost-taxpayers-97830-in-hotel-bills/2017/02/03/ababd64e-e95c-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.58e81c56a152

---

So, every time one of the Trumps take a trip, we get the bill. wow!

[wordpix]

1. hey Eric, YOU didn't get elected, you Richie Rich butthead

But with so many ethical and illegal actions by the pres and his people, no doubt this will go by as "nothing to see here."

[question everything]

22. As Cheney so famously said: so?

The whole family was elected. The whole "business" was elected. There is no line separating one entity from the other. I do hope that several law suits are making their way to court.

[lark]

2. So now we are getting screwed by every drumpf there is.

YAY! So every one of them is a menace to our country by stealing money that could save a childs' life to use in ultra-posh planes, restaurants, hotels, limousines, etc.

[dalton99a]

36. That's their plan

[MFM008]

3. nazi looking

bastard.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Don't like it, but I think such expenses are unavoidable. . . nt

[Else You Are Mad]

8. I don't mind if it is official business...

But when one of Trump's kids are costing me money for a non-commercial private business purpose. That is unacceptable. Obama got shit for take a vacation that cost tax dollars.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. You think that Malia paid for 3 months Secret Service protection while in Bolivia? No.

Would you like the international incident that would result if Trump's son got murdered overseas?

No.

If you are going to pay for Obama's family's protection you will also pay for Trump's family.

[Else You Are Mad]

25. Yeah..

But was she using her father's position to help the family make millions of dollars at the expense of taxpayers? And, I have a feeling these will be monthly or more frequent trips -- all to use his dad as president to make money -- and not infrequent vacations.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. There is another way to attack the grifters, but no way to make a fairer application of this rule.

The principle stands: Adult children are not responsible for their parent's behavior and are to be free to continue their own activities.

The way to attack the tRump family is to get ethics rules enforced and stronger ones in place: Require divestment and blind trusts. No faux "arms length" family arrangements as a fig leaf.

It probably won't happen in the next two years, but the tRump example is so bad that it might make it impossible for a future billionaire president to do the same things.

[Else You Are Mad]

27. Or the opposite...

Nothing will come of it and it will embolden the next Billionaire to do even worse. I fear that may be the more likely case.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

29. When (not if, WHEN) the Democratic Party gets firm control of the governmment again, they must do it

[Bengus81]

5. WTF??!?! Shit,I want 100K for a trip too.....

When may I expect PAYMENT Donnie??

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. tRump did not get that payment just like Malia did not get paid for her Secret Service protection.nt

[Historic NY]

6. Isn't that what daddies private security force it for.///

[Else You Are Mad]

7. Yet, Obama went on two vacations a year..

And he got shit for wasting tax dollar money for security and air force one AND HE WAS THE SITTING PRESIDENT. Eric is the adult son of the president on a business trip. Where is the outrage from the right wing media?!?

[Cryptoad]

9. These Alt-Right Republicans love to,,,,

spend that tax payer money!

[Else You Are Mad]

11. So long as the money...

Isn't being spent on a black president's family.

[kentuck]

10. They are robbing us frigging blind.

This is incredible!

[TheCowsCameHome]

12. Those hotel porn video rates have risen dramatically.

[mopinko]

13. subscribe to wapo if you can, peeps.

they want to see this man run out of town on a rail as bad as any of us.
it's not that much, and it falls under my giving plan of- donate to orgs wa lot of lawyers. so look at it that way.

enjoying my subscription. got so tired of hitting the paywall.

[diva77]

18. I see your point, however WAPO needs to go further, such as with reportage on Gorsuch

check out this post from FAIR from 2-2-17

http://fair.org/home/30-washington-post-articles-on-gorsuchs-nomination-not-a-single-one-opposed/

30 Washington Post Articles on Gorsuch’s Nomination–Not a Single One Opposed
By Adam Johnson

snip...A review of The Washington Post’s coverage of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch over the past two days reveals overwhelmingly positive coverage of the right-wing jurist. The Post, which prides itself on being a molder of Beltway conventional wisdom, has published 30 articles, op-eds, blog posts and editorials in the 48 hours since his nomination was announced live by Trump—and not a single one has been overtly critical or in opposition to Gorsuch.

Of the 30 items published on Gorsuch since Trump’s announcement, 17 could be construed as neutral and 13 (marked with an asterisk) were explicitly positive. None openly opposed Gorsuch or leveled criticisms beyond mild qualifiers

[sinkingfeeling]

14. But, but, the Obama's gave away a gym set!

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/white-house-swing-set-removal/

[erpowers]

15. He Is Over 18

Why does he get Secret Service protection? I thought all children over 18 lose Secret Service protection.

[cstanleytech]

17. Aye, if he is over 18 and an adult the taxpayers shouldnt be footing any bill to provide protection

for him and if he wants it then his father needs to be the one paying out of his own pocket.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Just like Hillary got protection when she was first lady. She was over 18.

I'm sure Bill Clinton's mother got Sec.Serv. protection too. She was over 18.

Do you think Chelsea Clinton should have been exposed to the wrath and weaponry of the Reich wing if Hillary had won the electoral college? I hope you don't.

Immediate family members get Sec.Serv. protection because of the consequences from a failure to provide such protection.

If an immediate family member were to be killed because of a lack of protection there would be hell to pay. If it happened on US soil, it would mean a fascist obliteration of rights and democracy. If it happened on foreign soil it could easily mean a big war.

I'm sure you don't want either alternative.

[uncle ray]

31. to me at least, the key words are "business trip".

Beavis...or is it Butthead? i can never keep them straight. anyway, he is traveling to make deals for his daddy's business empire. were he not actively furthering the Creamsickle Fuhrer's conflicts of interest, I'd feel differently about the situation. the fact that trump failed to divest from his companies is a major driver in the risk of this behavior. if precedent means fuck all to trump, then as far as I'm concerned, that opens the door to rethinking where we as a nation will draw the line on what we normally would do for presidents and their families. he wants to cut regulations, cut protections for us, then fuck it, he can pay for his own family's security while out globe-trotting to make billions. if he is going to crow about every fucking penny he is "saving" us, we can damn well point out the millions his term will cost us.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

32. It's an issue, but it doesn't negate the principle. However, with proper ethics, ...

... he would not be making the trip on behalf of the Trump business.

They should be fully divested or in a blind trust. Then he would be free to proceed on his own business interests.

The core issue is the ethics of Trumps business mess, not the idea that the USA does NOT want international incidents.

As a counter-example, imagine that Ted Cruz had an estranged daughter who hates his guts but Cruz got elected President. His daughter would be Democratic and a self-made multi-millionaire in her own right. She would get SecServ protection on international travel.

It would be a mistake to deny her because her father would be Republican.
Or to deny her for being a businesswoman on business trips.
Or because she would be Democratic.
Or a multi-millionaire.
Or over 18.

So the problem here is not the facts that Eric is the son or on business or over 18.

The problem is that Eric is part of the tRump family breaking ethics when he is out drumming up business for the father's enterprises.

[logosoco]

16. we aren;t just footing the bill

if they stayed at trumps hotel trump is making a profit from this

[Vinca]

19. What a bunch of grifters.

[marcopolo63]

23. For the rest of their lives...

...we will be paying for this families "protection" while they further enrich themselves! Thanks too Putin, Comey, Trump supporters and our Republican election theft experts!

[Demit]

37. Not for the kids. Kids of former presidents only get protection till they're 16.

[SayItLoud]

28. The aborted son that lived

These folks are thin skinned money grubbers. They will NOT and CAN NOT live without profiting off the backs of someone. Now it's us the taxpayers. I'm quite sure though that one of these money grubbers, probably Eric the stupid one, will get his ass in a sling by doing something illegal. But, who is going to go after them when his crooked old man threatens and fires anyone who he disagrees with. SAD times folks. Only humiliation....BOOs and Protests and stupid tweets hurt this ass wipe family.

[tenorly]

30. And (not) coincidentally, a Trump Tower is going up there as we speak.

It's being built in a resort city (Punta del Este) known as much for its scenic beauty as it is for being developed largely with proceeds from tax evasion money (mostly from neighboring Argentina).

There's a beach sculpture there, The Hand, which protrudes from the sand; many locals call it "the monument to corruption."

[ffr]

33. This is republican bureaucracy and privilege in action. Drain the swamp, tRump!

Fire yourself, your cabinet, and your children!

[dchill]

34. Emerson.

Emerson nice hotel rooms. I bet they didn't use Trivago!

[dreamland]

35. They're a family of thieves

Finding legal ways to steal.

[TexasBushwhacker]

38. And it was only for a few nights

Perhaps as little as 2. How many Secret Service could he have? 4? 8? Let's say it's 8 for 4 nights, so that's 32 room nights. Does Eric get to use Airforce 2 for business or do they use Trump's jets and charge the goverment for them.

Does anyone besides me see the potential for kickbacks here?