President Donald Trump's youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, went on spring break to Belgrade, Serbia, where she spent around four times the average annual salary of local residents of that country.
The president's children use government funds to pay for secret service protection, accommodation and transportation while traveling. The State Department filed a purchasing order on March 27 to cover Tiffany's stay at Belgrade's high-end Square Nine Hotel from March 7-16. The total cost of the stay, including hotel rooms for Tiffany and her security detail, was $23,000, according to the purchasing order first reported by Quartz.
The average annual salary in Serbia is around $5,675, according to the Serbian research center Demosta. The country's per capita GDP is $5,899, according to World Bank statistics. Serbia continues to be one of the least expensive places to travel in Europe, according to travel guides, and the average price of accommodation ranges from between $10 to $50 a night in the capital.
This is not the first time U.S. taxpayers have paid for Tiffany to travel to Europe. A summer 2017 trip to Berlin reportedly cost taxpayers around $22,000. Government security services occasionally open their own temporary offices in the hotel where the president's children are staying, an expense that is covered by government funds.
Similarly, Trump's sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. routinely fly on Trump Organization business trips and are escorted by government security. The two have flown to Dubai, Canada, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic on family business over the last two years and were given 24-hour Secret Service protection during those trips. Some of those trips were estimated to have cost around $100,000.
Children of presidents are routinely given Secret Service protection, but experts say the Trump family's trips abroad are more numerous and pose more logistical challenges than the trips taken by the children of previous presidents. This is largely due to the fact that Trump has four adult children who frequently travel abroad for work. Some critics questioned whether it was appropriate for U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for travel related to the Trump family's international real estate ventures.
Tiffany's trips overseas, however, appear to be holidays that are unrelated to the family business.
During her recent stay, Tiffany, who is studying law at Georgetown University, posted just one picture on her Instagram page with the caption, "Greetings from Serbia," written in the local language. Serbian tabloids reported that Tiffany spent her days in Belgrade's capital shopping while followed by security guards. Local papers described the president's daughter as "a blonde model."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Cristina Maza is an award-winning journalist who has reported from countries such as Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, India, Lithuania, Serbia, and Turkey. ... Read more
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