Secret Service to pay $179,000 to rent golf carts in New Jersey this summer

A $179,000 contract was signed by the Secret Service this week for golf carts and other vehicle rentals in the coming months in Bedminster, N.J., the site of one of President Trump’s golf clubs.

The contract, first reported by The Washington Post, went into effect on Tuesday of this week and is set to last through October 2020. Similar contracts have been struck ahead of Trump’s visits to the golf club in the past, though this year’s contract is larger.

According to the Post, the Secret Service’s equivalent 2018 contract totaled $118,000 and dropped to $95,000 in 2019. All of the contracts were struck with the company Associates Golf Car Service, which is based in New York. 

The new contract suggests Trump, who has been spending the vast majority of his time at the White House amid the coronavirus pandemic, or a member of his family may be visiting the golf club in the near future.

The Secret Service protects the president and vice president as well as their families, but the contract does not make clear for whom the golf carts will be used. 

The Hill has reached out to the Secret Service and Trump Organization for comment. 

New Jersey, a state hit hard by the pandemic, has just begun lifting some restrictions, and golf courses were allowed to reopen on May 2 with social distancing.

According to the Post, the Trump golf club in Bedminster has reopened its golf courses but is warning against socializing. It had closed its club for 46 days during the pandemic. 

The Trump administration has paid more than $970,000 to the Trump Organization over the last four years, the Post reports, and Trump has visited his properties more than 250 times.

Trump’s last visit to one of his properties was in early March.