Secret Service Reportedly Going Broke Protecting Trump Family

The Secret Service is going broke trying to protect President Donald Trump and his family, according to an exclusive report by USA Today. After Trump released his first budget outline, mainstream media outlets seized the opportunity to attack the president by reporting on the exorbitant cost of protecting First Lady Melania Trump, and son Barron Trump, who had remained behind at the Trumps" suite in Trump Tower after the president moved to the White House so Barron could finish the school year.  

In an interview with USA Today, Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year.

Randolph "Tex" Alles

Here’s USA Today with more:

“The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first seven months of the administration. "The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,"" Alles said. "I can"t change that. I have no flexibility.""

"The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,"" Alles said. "I can"t change that. I have no flexibility.""

According to USA Today, 42 people have secret service protection under Trump, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That"s up from 31 during the Obama administration.

The Secret Service said Monday it has enough money to protect President Trump through September, even as the agency acknowledged it’s running up against its spending limit for agents protecting the president and his family.
Since Trump took office, the Secret Service has spent more than $6.6 million to protect Trump"s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and each weekend trip there costs an additional $1 million. To cover these costs, the agency has asked Congress to increase its $60 million budget, and allow it to exceed overtime caps for certain employees.

However, in a statement published in response to the USA Today report, the agency assured its employees, and the public, that it will be able to fully compensate employees for overtime, according to the Hill.

“The Secret Service has the funding it needs to meet all current mission requirements for the remainder of the fiscal year and compensate employees for overtime within statutory pay caps,” agency director Randolph “Tex” Alles said in a statement.”

The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
 

Melania And Barron Trump To Stay In New York, Won't Move To White House With Donald

Following President-Elect Trump"s inauguration in January, NYPost reports that future First Lady Melania Trump and their 10-year-old son Barron will not be moving to the White House. “The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and she is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum," according to Trump"s transition team and while she "is fully on board of doing everything that’s needed as first lady," they will remain in the so-called "White House of New York."

The president-elect’s 46-year-old wife and their 10-year-old son are staying put at the family’s glitzy Trump Tower penthouse so that Barron can continue attending his Upper West Side private school, sources told The Post.

On a Sunday call with reporters, Donald Trump"s communications adviser, Jason Miller, said there is “sensitivity to pulling their 10-year-old out of school in the middle of the school year.”

“Melania is extremely close to Barron, and they have become closer during the campaign,” said a source close to Trump’s transition team. “The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and she is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Another source said Melania Trump will travel to the White House as needed, but that her primary focus is on Barron.

“Melania is very supportive of her husband and is fully on board of doing everything that’s needed as first lady,” said the second source familiar with the Trump transition.

That source said also that there is a possibility that Melania and Barron may move to the White House at the end of the school year, but no plans are in place.

“She is really devoted to Barron,” said a source close to the family, adding that Melania has not relied on nannies to raise the child and is frequently seen picking the fourth-grader up from his prep school, where tuition is north of $40,000.

As The Post notes however, the decision to remain in their Midtown home will increase the security presence around Trump Tower — an effort that will involve both Secret Service and the NYPD, an expert familiar with high-level security told The Post.

“That building is going to become the White House of New York,” said Jim Reese, a former Delta Force commander and president of TigerSwan, a global security company based in North Carolina.

Barron and Melania will each have an unknown number of Secret Service agents assigned to them in addition to a driver and armored vehicle to take Barron to school, Reese said. An advance team of agents will swoop down on the school each morning to make sure it’s safe, he added.