President Donald Trump's signature 757 flew to Aspen, Colorado last weekend as the First Children took their families on a ski vacation.
While the President spent last weekend in the Winter White House - Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump joined their immediate families for a spring break ski vacation in Aspen. The once-anonymous vacation became breaking news when sleuths discovered the United States Secret Service had paid thousands of dollars for rental equipment in Aspen for the week. Local law enforcement sources also spilled that they were in communication with the Secret Service. With the cat out of the bag, Donald Trump Jr. had no problem sharing his family's vacation destination with an Instagram video from the cockpit of his father's luxury jet. https://www.instagram.com/p/BRzEtKSjbYG/ The trip caused some controversy due to the Secret Service detachment assigned to the vacation. Despite the rumors, a source told the Aspen Times that the number of Secret Service agents would be "quite a bit less than 100." An official protection detail is usually given to members of the First Family. While none of the President's children work in the White House, Ivanka Trump's husband Jared Kushner is one of the President's Senior Advisors, explaining the rumors surrounding the heavier-than-usual security arrangement. Critics were quick to compare the Trump family vacation to a tweet the President published back in 2012. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/172032149577416705 Reports indicate that the former-First Family's 2012 Aspen vacation cost American taxpayers more than $83,000. For security reasons, cost estimates and readouts will not be made public until after the Trumps leave town.
This wasn't the first time that the eldest Trump children have taken their families skiing in Colorado. Before their father announced his candidacy for President, they brought their families to Aspen in 2015. Back then, they didn't qualify for Secret Service protection.
Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo made waves when he went on record to express his unwillingness to use county resources to help protect the First Family, saying, "if it's anyone but him or her, I'm not sure we'd use public money for it." Disalvo previously criticized the practice of using public funds to protect dignitaries visiting Aspen.
A larger Secret Service detail could have been due to the World Cup and its crowds, which finished up in Aspen on Sunday. One Anti-Trump group, "Indivisible Aspen," tried to use the World Cup finals as a backdrop to protest the First Family's arrival. Dozens were estimated to attend the protest.
One of the group's criticisms was the use of taxpayer money to protect the President's children. Ironically, it is protests like these that ultimately end up increasing security details.
