Three New York City officials estimate that it costs over $1 million per day to provide adequate protection for President-elect Donald Trump and his family. And the cost isn’t likely to go down anytime soon.
At a Friday press conference Democratic Mayor Bill De Blasio said that his city will need more resources to do their job properly:
“The number one imperative here is safety and security. We owe that to the President-elect, his family and his team… This is a very substantial undertaking. It will take substantial resources. We will begin the conversation with the federal government shortly on reimbursement for the NYPD for some of the costs that we are incurring.”
In addition to the President-elect and his wife and young son, all of Trump’s adult children and grandchildren are entitled to Secret Service protection. But local law enforcement plays a big supporting role monitoring public movement and controlling traffic. And in the most densely packed neighborhood in the biggest city in the country, protecting Trump can be a logistical nightmare. For example, the high-volume Lincoln Tunnel was closed to all traffic Friday during rush hour, when Trump went to New Jersey.
And with the news that Melania and Barron Trump aren’t likely to move to the White House, this means the police presence will be a daily occurrence for New Yorkers. And we haven’t even reached the end of the month. De Blasio further commented:
“We have never had a situation where a POTUS would be here on such a regular basis… The details of his future plans are unknown, but we certainly know over these next 65 days [until the inauguration] he will be here regularly. The NYPD is up to the challenge and the city of New York is up to the challenge, I have no doubt about that.”
I have a feeling that fellow New Yorkers won’t be terribly pleased with any of this news. The saddest part it, if this is the only problems Trump creates during his first months in office, we’re going to have to consider ourselves really lucky.
I don’t think we’re going to be that lucky, though.
Watch CNN Money’s report on the Presidential costs here:
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
