Secret Service spends nearly $14,000 on golf cart rentals during Trump's 'working vacation'

The President is currently spending time at his Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey

The Secret Service has spent nearly $14,000 in renting golf carts during Donald Trump's vacation to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

The Secret Service has spent almost $14,000 just to rent golf carts as part of Donald Trump's security detail during his "working vacation".

American Bridge, a super Political Action Committee (Pac), obtained purchase orders the agency signed with a New York vendor operating out of Mr Trump's own Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.

According to USA Today, the vendor offers weekly rates of "from $500 to $900 a cart, depending on the model and monthly rates range from $750 to $1,200 a cart".

This recent order totaling $13,500 is at least the second time the Secret Service has used the same golf cart vendor.

In June, two purchase orders were signed for $5,400 each.

It is unclear at this time, what percentage of that fee the Bedminster club, and subsequently Mr Trump, receives from the rentals.

When Mr Trump was spending almost every weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier in his term, the Secret Service spent $35,185 on similar golf cart rentals.

The total of $59,485 from just these rentals, but the average price range to purchase an electric one with accessories seems to range from $5,000-$7,000.

The Secret Service has ongoing funding issues as well, but the strain of protecting several Trump children who travel frequently for business and holidays, Melania and Barron Trump when they were living in Trump Tower in New York the first five months of the presidency, and Mr Trump's frequent weekends out of Washington DC had prompted the agency to ask Congress for an additional $60 million in funding in March.

The Department of Defence was also renting an office space in Trump Tower for $130,000 a month. Lease documents were obtained by the Wall Street Journal that showed an 18-month lease at $2.39 million for a 3,475 square foot space from 11 April 2017 to 30 September 2018, making it one of the most expensive rental properties in Manhattan.

Mr Trump has yet to spend a single night of his time in office at his New York City residence. According to the building, the unit being rented was not owned by Mr Trump directly but it is unclear whether the Trump organisation receives any kind of dues or payments from the independent owners.

The Secret Service also had a command centre in Trump Tower, which they have been forced to move to a trailer outside the building due to a breakdown in lease negotiations, according to the New York Times.

It is not yet clear why the Trump Organisation opposed a particular clause in the contract, but a spokeswoman for the company said: "after much consideration, it was mutually determined that it would be more cost effective and logistically practical for the Secret Service to lease space elsewhere."

Mr Trump repeatedly criticised his predecessor Barack Obama for golfing too much during his time in office, but pictures have been posted on social media showing Mr Trump golfing quite a bit during this vacation.

When asked, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she was "not sure" whether the President was golfing on 10 Aug.