Trump just spent another weekend in Bedminster, N.J. Here's what his visits cost
A New Jersey lawmaker wants to make sure Bedminster, N.J., is compensated each time President Trump arrives at the club that bears his name. He has been there twice since becoming president.
Just what does it cost Bedminster, N.J., every weekend that President Trump visits his golf club there?
$8,064 is what the little Somerset County town billed the government when he visited in November as president-elect. And that didn't include the $17,893.38 that state lawmakers say it cost the county Prosecutor's Office.
Trump has been back twice to Trump National Golf Club since as president, most recently this past weekend, when he held a fund-raiser for New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur (R., Ocean) and crashed a wedding party at the club.
The federal government reimbursed Bedminster and the county for what they spent on police overtime and public works and administrative assistance in November. A New Jersey lawmaker wants to make sure they are compensated each time the president arrives at the club that bears his name.
"It's a small town," Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D., Union) said of the municipality of 8,400 residents. "It's a lot to ask from a small town."
Quijano, who in March introduced a resolution urging the federal government to reimburse the local costs of Trump's visits, said Monday the state wouldn't seek reimbursement if the president were to visit Bedminster only once or twice a year. But, she said, he is expected to come "repeatedly."
A hearing in the Assembly's regulatory oversight committee on the resolution was slated for Monday afternoon but was postponed because of a scheduling conflict. Tom Hester, communications director of the Assembly Majority's Office, said the hearing would likely be rescheduled for Monday.
Judy Sullivan, municipal clerk and township administrator for Bedminster, said the township has been tracking the cost of Trump's visits since he became president and will apply for reimbursement later this year.
Sullivan said the township was reimbursed in full for the cost of Trump's visit in November.
The Prosecutor's Office also took on significant costs for the trip. The office did not return a phone call Monday, but Sullivan said she believes it, too, was reimbursed.
Quijano's resolution estimates that Trump's weekend visits to the golf club cost the township and county more than $20,000.
Trump has also spent at least seven weekends at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., since taking office. His visits to Mar-a-Lago cost about $60,000 in overtime pay for local police. In March, Florida lawmakers wrote to Trump asking for reimbursement of those costs.
Trump has also visited other Trump properties since becoming president, including Trump International Hotel in Washington and his golf club in Sterling, Va. As of Sunday, Trump had spent 42 days at his properties since his inauguration, according to NBC News.
As part of the congressional budget agreement reached in May, $61 million was set aside to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for protecting Trump and his family when they travel outside of Washington.
Law enforcement agencies in Hawaii and Illinois received grants from the U.S. Department of Justice for protecting President Barack Obama during his visits to those locations, according to the text of the New Jersey resolution.
Assemblyman John McKeon (D., Essex), a co-sponsor of the resolution, said that while he is no supporter of Trump or his policies, "it's always an honor" to have a sitting president visit the state.
But McKeon added that Trump's visits to Bedminster likely will create an economic burden. He said he expects Trump to visit Bedminster about a dozen times a year.
"This is a dollars and cents issue," he said. "It looks like he's going to be here an awful lot."
Bedminster Mayor Steve Parker did not return a phone call Monday.
The golf club, which has two 18-hole courses, often hosts weddings, banquets, and other events. It will also host this year's U.S. Women's Open and the 2022 PGA Championship.
When Trump visited Bedminster in May, he tweeted to defend himself.
"The reason I am staying in Bedminster, N. J., a beautiful community," the president wrote, "is that staying in NYC is much more expensive and disruptive. Meetings!"