Some highlights of how Trump spent >100 Million dollars on his inauguration ceremonies (more than 2x what Obama and Bush spent):
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a friend of first lady Melania Trump, set up an event-planning company just before the inauguration; her company billed almost $26 million. Though most of that went to subcontractors, she was paid
a $1.6 million fee. Veterans of both the Obama and Bush inaugurals called that fee outrageous; it amounted to “roughly one-fourth of what we paid our entire 450-person staff” in 2009, said one Obama staffer.
∗ Trump campaign digital chief Brad Parscale, who will be managing the president’s reelection campaign, was paid more than $2 million to use his online wizardry to drum up a crowd for the inauguration. You’ll remember
how that worked out.
∗ The Trump International Hotel billed the inaugural committee $1.5 million, in addition to making unspecified amounts from guests who made their own reservations.
∗ “One couple working for Winston-Wolkoff billed the inauguration
$1,835 in room service charges [at the Trump International] over three days.”
∗ The committee spent
$6.4 million on empty hotel rooms after guests arranged their own accommodations.
∗ Another party planner hired by Winston Wolkoff, David Monn, billed the committee $3.7 million. From
the New York Times report: “Mr. Monn spent $924,000 on seven-foot-high wreaths, moss-covered obelisks, flowers and other decorations to dress up Union Station. Makeup was provided for 20 staff members at a cost of $500 per person. For the dinner at the auditorium, table menus, table numbers and place cards, including an on-site calligrapher to correct last-minute mistakes, amounted to $91 per guest.”
More here:
What Trump’s orgy of inaugural spending tells us about the people around him
