Last week, the news reported that JD Vance has decided to establish a second home in Middleburg, VA. A helicopter with Secret Service employees and JD Vance and his wife was spotted circling the property. Days later a caravan of SUVs arrived in Middleburg.
Charles Kuhn, whose firm owns the property, is a major player in the development of data centers across the state. Vance claims he is renting the property at the going rate. Taxpayers will pay for the additional Secret Service, SUVs and helicopters required to transport Vance and his family back and forth.
Already taxpayers pay for Vance and his growing family to live at the VP mansion at D.C.’s Observatory Circle, a 9,150 square foot mansion featuring 33 rooms and sitting on a security-gated 12-acre compound within the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory. Vance recently added a Victorian style chicken coop to the property.
The Secret Service is reportedly fed up with the ridiculous number of last-minute requests from the Vance family, including using a helicopter to fly his young son to a golf lesson (which was later cancelled due to weather concerns).
During the first seven months in office alone, Vance and his family took eight vacations, including to England, Scotland, Nantucket, touring the Taj Mahal in India, Italy, Disneyland, and Vermont. And don’t forget the birthday kayaking trip to Ohio where the military actually raised the river to smooth out paddling conditions. All these trips require motorcades and secret service. The cost of a single out-of-town motorcade is estimated to be between $100,000 and $300,000. Let’s just say this guy has come a long way from his Hillbilly Elegy days.
Several in Trump’s inner circle, including Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, and Dan Driscoll have rented or currently rent houses on the military base, apparently for security reasons. These homes are usually reserved for high-ranking generals. Trump’s inner circle pays rent for these homes but added security for them is covered by taxpayer dollars.
Each time Trump travels to his Mar-a-Lago residence costs taxpayers a minimum of $800,000. So far this term, he has taken at least 17 trips there, accounting for 67 partial or full days. Plus, somehow Trump has found time to attend the FIFA World Cup Final, the Superbowl, the Daytona 500, the 2026 College Football Playoff, the U.S. Open Men’s tennis final, NCAA wrestling championships, and multiple UFC events in Miami and New Jersey, all involving motorcades, security, and major traffic jams.
Melania frequently travels between the White House, Mar-a Lago and Trump Tower in NYC once again charging travel and security costs to taxpayers. In addition to the money she is spending, you will be happy to know she has launched her own cryptocurrency token which she will profit from, as well as pocketing $28 million from Amazon for her documentary.
In the midst of all these current excessive secret service security demands, let’s not forget that at the beginning of his second term, Trump cancelled secret service protection for Kamala Harris, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Dr. Fauci, and Ashley and Hunter Biden, some of whom were facing death threats, supposedly to save taxpayer dollars.
To date, the war in Iran that nobody wanted is estimated to have cost taxpayers between $100 billion to $150 billion when factoring in both direct military spending and broader economic impacts. So far 17 U.S. service members have been killed (three last weekend) and 430 have been wounded, an incredibly steep price to pay for a war that was not sanctioned by Congress or given any comprehensible rationale.
The total cost of the White House State Ballroom is projected to reach $600 million with taxpayers covering more than half the cost.
If approved, the 250-foot-tall Independence Arch which Trump wants to build could cost as much as $100 million.
The 2026 Independence Day Celebrations are estimated to have cost more than $90 million, including the unsuccessful Great American State Fair.
Site enhancements that include repairs to Washington landmarks and fountains, including the reflecting pool debacle, are estimated to have cost more than $76 million.
Funded through Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, Trump has allocated unprecedented sums to ICE, supercharging its enforcement budget to more than $85 billion, making ICE the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency.
Alligator Alcatraz has cost taxpayers a staggering $1.2 billion dollars, equating to $1.2 million a day. It is now totally dismantled.
FBI Director Kash Patel is facing bipartisan scrutiny for misusing taxpayer dollars for trips to the Milan Olympics, a VIP snorkel trip to Hawaii, flights to PA to attend his girlfriend’s concerts, and purchasing custom BMWs for personal use instead of using standard government-issued Chevy Suburbans.
All this excessive spending has resulted in increasing the national debt by roughly $3 trillion, resulting in the gross national debt surpassing $39 trillion. On several campaign stops in 2024, in addition to stopping “forever wars,” Trump promised to erase the national debt.
Consider all this appalling spending when juxtaposed against this Administration’s cuts to domestic nondefense discretionary spending, including reducing resources for housing, education, and federal assistance programs. This Administration has reduced the U.S. Forest Service budget by $438 million and totally eliminated USAID. Millions of Americans have lost access to the Affordable Care Act and SNAP benefits. It has eliminated the Low-income Energy Assistance Program, cut the NIH medical research fund by $6 billion, and so much more.
American voters must stand up and fight this almost unfathomable out of control waste and abuse.
Our own Andy Harris, supposedly our Eastern Shore representative, is another case in point. He is seldom on the Eastern Shore and has shown time and time again that he does not work for the people on the Eastern Shore. Instead, he works for the President. Andy “Handgun” Harris has supported massive cuts to NIH and Medicaid. He voted against the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and later touted environmental and infrastructure projects for the Chesapeake Bay which were made possible by the very bill he opposed.
The author Mark Twain once summarized his feelings about government like this: “Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government when it deserves it.” I would argue that this Administration and our local representative Andy Harris are far from deserving our loyalty. Let’s hope our November elections make that perfectly clear.
12 Responses
Corruption knows no end with this administration/regime.
A treasonous insurectionist, convicted tax cheating felon, convicted rapist was allowed into the WH by six trump loving justices. The rest is history.
Term limits are in order for justices.
Here, Here! Thanks for your comment.
Here! Here! Thanks for writing.
I certainly cannot disagree with the points Ms. Grant makes. Let’s look at the mess we have here in MD. The Governor comes and goes everywhere but here in MD. The recent audits show a pattern of misuse and little to no accountability. Credit downgrades have comprised our financial system. Let’s implore out State representative to tackle the tough problems and stop the polarization of our politics!
LeRoy, I agree we should hold our representatives accountable. Thanks for writing.
LeRoy, thanks for writing. I agree that a deep dive should be done on Maryland’s spending.
The sum of these expenses is staggering, and yet so many elected officials continue to put their heads in the sand and allow this thievery of tax payers dollars to continue unchecked.
Traveling on vacation in Alaska, we have been told by locals that at least half the Forest, Park, and other government agencies employees have been let go, some who have worked here more than 30 years. Local fisherman are at a loss to follow fish movements and population shifts, services previously provided by the federal government but have now been eliminated.
When are average Americans going to wake up and realize this Administration cares only for the super wealthy and is willing to see the standard of living of the ordinary American decline to support them?
Wilson, thanks so much for writing. I understand that the national parks are in bad shape caused by all the layoffs. Environmental concerns abound as a result of drastic cuts made without the necessary due diligence.
When our nation decides to out-law billions in private funding for elections and deal with the grotesque “billionaire/trillionaire” advantage in our tax system, maybe our “average Americans” will then wake up….
Deirdre thanks for writing. Let’s pray for a major awakening!
What does Trump usually say? “Sad”