President Trump’s sons’ visit to Dubai this week has costed taxpayers a minimum of $73,000 in security costs, according to government purchase orders viewed by CBS News. The purchase orders describe the costs for United States Secret Service agents to stay at hotels close to the Trump property and car service for the trip listed as being from March 26 through April 8.
The trip is for the family business and not related to any government work.
Secret Service spokesperson Mason Brayman emailed CBS News in response to a request for comment on the trip: “The Secret Service is conducting a protective operation in the UAE. As a matter of practice we do not comment on the specifics of protectee’s trips.”
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. traveled to Dubai to spend time with the Trump Organization’s Middle East business partner Hussain Sajwani and his family. Sajwani’s daughter is getting married, according to the Trump Organization and tweets from Sajwani.
Sajwani tweeted a picture of himself with President Trump’s sons Friday, saying, “Yesterday, I was delighted to host my dear friends and business partners @donaldjtrumpjr & @erictrump for a very special occasion in my family’s life.”
The Trumps also went to Dubai to visit “the team at Trump International Golf Club, Dubai,” according to a statement from a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization emailed to CBS News. Nearby, there is another Trump property under construction: the Trump World Golf Club, which was designed by Tiger Woods according to the Trump Organization.
So far compared to 2017, the Trump sons’ travel has been somewhat curtailed, with just one other international trip to India for Donald Trump Jr.
Ivanka and Jared Kushner recently took the Trump Organization aircraft to Wyoming for a getaway with the extended Kushner family. The local mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was invited onto the plane and posted pictures to Twitter.
CBS News previously reported that the extended Trump family vacation to Aspen, Colorado, during last year’s spring break cost more than $300,000 in taxpayer funds for security costs.
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