The U.S. military unit in charge of support for President Donald Trump has been renting space in Manhattan’s Trump Tower for $130,000 per month since April, even though Trump has not stayed the night there since his inauguration, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night.
The government signed a $2.39 million lease to rent more than 3,000 square feet in the building from April 11 through Sept. 30, 2018, according to a lease the newspaper obtained from the General Services Administration through a Freedom of Information Act request. The space was rented for $180,000 for part of April, and then $130,000 for each month after that, according to the report.
The GSA redacted the name of the person who owns the building from the lease. However, James A. MacStravic, the acting Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, wrote in a letter to a Democratic member of Congress that the person who owns the space is not affiliated with the Trump Organization. The GSA does list the owner of the space on its inventory list as Joel R. Anderson, a businessman in Alabama, per the Wall Street Journal.
CNN had reported back in February that the military was looking into renting space in Trump Tower to help fulfill the President’s security needs. It’s not uncommon for the government to make these arrangements, and they did so for former President Barack Obama.
Though the government pays for security for all presidents, the Trump family has proven particularly costly to protect. Congress set aside $120 million in May to pay for Trump’s security through the end of September, about half of which will be used to reimburse the cities of New York and Palm Beach for the high security costs they have seen as Trump and his family travel.
