The Secret Service left its command center in Trump Tower early last month following a dispute over the lease arrangement with the Trump Organization and moved its operations down 50 floors to a trailer on the sidewalk, the Washington Post reported Thursday. Sources told the Post that the rift arose over the price and terms of the lease in the Trump building. The president, of course, has not stayed in his Manhattan residence since his inauguration, but the U.S. government still provides significant Secret Service and military presence to keep the building safe and operational for a potential visit.
“The Secret Service command post acts as a nerve center for a broader team of agents, both at a president’s private home and when the president travels. The command post is usually located on the same floor as the suite or room where the president is sleeping, or one floor below,” according to the Post. “At Trump Tower, the command post had operated temporarily for months in the offices of the Trump Organization, one floor below the president’s residence.”
The interplay of Donald Trump’s businesses and President Trump’s White House has, from the outset, set up an ethically dubious situation in which Trump profits from his presidency. It has ethics watchdogs on high alert and has put government agencies, like the General Services Administration, which oversees the U.S. government’s leases, in a challenging situation of negotiating with their boss.
