**Trump's Hotels Charged Secret Service Rates Beyond Government Limits, Report Reveals**

A new report from Democratic members of the House oversight committee reveals that former President Donald Trump charged the government excessively for Secret Service accommodations at his hotels, surpassing costs imposed on other guests, notably including foreign dignitaries. The report, released on Friday, details instances where Trump's hotels billed the government up to 300% more than the allotted per diem rate for Secret Service rooms.

Utilizing documents obtained via subpoenas from the Mazars accounting firm, the committee scrutinized guest logs from Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., spanning from September 2017 to August 2018. Findings indicate that the hotel not only charged the Secret Service significantly above the government rate but also more than what was charged to other patrons, such as foreign royal family members and Chinese business interests.

Contradicting claims made by Eric Trump that the Trump organization allowed Secret Service agents to stay for free, the report documents instances where the agency was billed substantially more than both the approved government rates and the rates charged to other guests, including rooms rented by the Qatari royal family and Chinese business entities.

An earlier report released by House Democrats in January detailed that four Trump-owned businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 countries during Trump's tenure in the White House. The Trump International Hotel in Washington was a particular favorite of Republicans visiting the capital, which served numerous officials, including three Trump-appointed federal judges, eight ambassadors, and several individuals later granted presidential pardons.

The U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause prohibits presidents from receiving payments from the federal government outside of their salary. Historically, presidents such as Jimmy Carter divested from potential conflicting business interests, whereas Trump maintained these interests, seeking to obscure his financial activities from public view. Although the Supreme Court dismissed emoluments cases against Trump in January 2021, citing the end of his presidency, the matter remains contentious.

During his presidency, Trump International Hotel reportedly accrued $150 million in revenue but faced a net loss of $70 million, largely attributed to the pandemic. Trump sold the lease on the 263-room establishment, located in the Old Post Office building, in 2022 to CGI Merchant Group. Since reopening as a Waldorf Astoria in June 2023, Republican spending at the hotel has plummeted, according to a report from the oversight group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.