After British royalty and global celebrities Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pulled a last-minute move from Canada to Los Angeles, California, this week, the question emerged as to who would pay for their whopping $25 million in security costs. (Which Canada refused to do. ) Because the royal pair are stepping down from their official duties as members of the royal family, they will no longer qualify automatically for U.S. protection, according to the Daily Mail.

The British newspaper reports :

The pair's stepping down removes any obligation on the US government to pay for their security. The UK and US have a long standing reciprocal agreement when it comes to bodyguards protecting diplomats and members of the Royal family.



Harry's exit from the Royal family means he is no longer considered an 'international protected person' and so these rules don't apply. … The couple would now need to rely on President Trump to make an exception to cover the costs.

President Trump’s response? An emphatic, “No.”

“It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the [United] Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada,” Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon . “Now they have left Canada for the U.S. however, the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!”

This is absolutely the right call. With the U.S. possibly heading into a recession due to the economic slowdown induced by the coronavirus crisis, there’s zero reason to ask U.S. taxpayers to fund tens of millions in security for British celebrities. They can pay for private security, ask the royal family for help, or go home to England.

The government takes our tax money to, ostensibly, pay for things that advance U.S. interests. This does not include bodyguards for Harry. Yes, Meghan is a U.S. citizen, but seeing as she’s no longer acting as a member of the royal family in official duties, taxpayers have no more obligation to pay for her personal security than we do to fund Lady Gaga’s bodyguards.

Trump’s announcement was met with praise from conservative commentators as disparate as Dan Bongino and Meghan McCain.

NOPE! NO WAY!

👇🏻👇🏻

Harry and Meghan must ask Trump for 'special help' as Canada bids security costs farewell https://t.co/iYkt0YMIdK — Dan Bongino (@dbongino) March 29, 2020

With all the struggle and pain in this country as we are possibly headed into a second Great Depression, this has GOT to be a joke. We are NOT using average American taxpayer dollars to pay for their security detail. Why isn’t this England’s problem? https://t.co/o2v6jZzajV — Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 29, 2020

That’s usually a sign that the president has made a good call. And in this case, he almost certainly has.