title:  Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Trips Force Secret Service To Divert Crime-Fighting Funds To Pay For More Security
text: Despite repeatedly claiming that he will be tough on crime, Donald Trump s weekend escapades to Mar-a-Lago are literally forcing the Secret Service to do less crime-fighting.The Secret Service does not merely exist to protect presidents and their families. They perform other duties as well that keep America safe such as busting currency counterfeiters, searching for missing and exploited children, and cybercrimes.But instead of doing that part of the job, the Secret Service is being forced to abandon those responsibilities in order to spend more time and money on presidential security. And it s all because Trump refuses to stop going to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach every single freaking weekend.According to the Washington Post, the Secret Service asked for an additional $60 million for their budget to fund security for Trump Tower in New York City because Melania Trump refuses to move into the White House. The extra funding would also go towards the security requirements necessary for when Trump goes to Florida to play golf.But the White House budget office denied the request. You know, because Trump actually doesn t give a shit about fighting crime.So the Secret Service is being forced to cut funding from their criminal investigation wing, which will likely lead to a rise in those criminal activities because the Secret Service won t be able to do their job effectively.Trump s vacations to Mar-a-Lago costs taxpayers $3 million every weekend and so far, Trump has only stayed in Washington one weekend since taking the oath of office. In fact, it was the weekend after taking the oath that Trump chose not to go to Palm Beach.Speaking of Palm Beach, despite promising to create jobs, Trump s frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago on the taxpayer s dime is taking a toll on local businesses there because all the extra security measures are causing businesses to lose money. Local taxpayers have also had to spend money on extra security for Trump, which has forced the Palm Beach city council to consider a measure that would slap a tax on Trump to help reimburse the city.And at the rate Trump is going back and forth between Washington and Palm Beach, he will likely force the Secret Service to blow their entire budget well before the next fiscal year commences. Trump is on pace to take more vacation days in one year than President Obama did in eight, and Trump s vacation time will cost taxpayers even more.So not only are taxpayers losing money, the American people are losing a crucial element of our ability to fight crime in this country. Not only can counterfeit money flow to fund multiple criminal endeavors, it can hurt the economy by flooding it with too much currency and would hurt the reputation of the dollar. If other nations and businesses can t trust the authenticity of our money, the whole system could suffer greatly.Perhaps the Secret Service would be better off choosing to not protect Trump so much. After all, he s the one making their job more difficult than it should be. And frankly, if Trump wants more Secret Service protection he should have to pay for it himself if he continues to insist that he be a part-time president.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images