Eric (left) and Donald Trump Jr. traveled overseas for Trump family business on two trips that cost the Secret Service nearly $250,000. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Don Jr. and Eric Trump racked up nearly $250,000 in Secret Service costs in one month, watchdog says

One month of Secret Service protection for Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. cost taxpayers close to a quarter of a million dollars last year, according to new spending documents obtained by a watchdog group.

The president’s sons traveled overseas for Trump family business on two trips that cost the Secret Service nearly $250,000. Taxpayers footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars in hotels, airfare and other costs for Secret Service protection, according to documents obtained by nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.


“The Secret Service documents, received through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, shed light on how much taxpayers are paying for trips taken by the heads of the president’s private business empire,” CREW said in a statement.

In February 2017, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. traveled together to Dubai to open a golf club under the Trump brand. The trip cost the Secret Service $200,000, CREW says. According to the spending documents, the agency paid $125,000 for airfare, $75,000 for hotel rooms and $15,000 for miscellaneous expenses including cellphones and car service.

“The business trip cost taxpayers significantly more than the $73,000 in Secret Service cost for a 2018 trip to Dubai for the Trump sons to attend the wedding of the daughter of a business partner,” CREW said.

Eric Trump also took a less costly trip to the Dominican Republic in February 2017 to potentially relaunch a Trump resort. His business trip cost the Secret Service some $30,000 on airfare, hotels and other costs, according to CREW.

“When compared to the bill taxpayers were stuck with from Dubai, the Dominican Republic was a bargain,” CREW said.

That launch did not come to fruition, according to the watchdog group.

CREW obtained additional spending reports on trips to Vancouver and Uruguay in April 2017.

“While ... some of the costs of these trips have already been made public, including $15,000 spent at a Trump-branded property, the documents — which give a fuller picture of costs — have not,” CREW said.

