Should anything surprise you at this point? As you’ve probably heard by now, there are reports that President Trump and the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) are at odds. But what impact will this have on those close to him?
Is Trump Abusing His Power?
According to a recent interview with USA Today, Secret Service Director Randolph Alles claims that his more than 1,000 agents have already hit their federally mandated caps for salary and overtime for 2017 – with more than 40 percent of the calendar year remaining.
The crushing workload has been brought on by a number of factors, but the two most pressing issues are Trump’s frequent travel and the number of protectees in his group. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, including 18 of his family members. That figure is up from 31 people during the Obama administration.
The friction occurs when you recognize the fact that the USSS has no choice but to keep protecting. “The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,” says Alles. “I can't change that. I have no flexibility.”
Currently, the cap for agents is $160,000 per year. Because of the crunch, lawmakers are trying to move the salary and overtime limit to $187,000 for the remainder of Trump’s term. The problem is that even this limit would leave more than 100 agents with inadequate compensation for their time.
While people are free to argue whatever they want, this is quite frankly just another symptom of the way Trump has treated staff members and employees over the years.
During the election cycle, it was revealed that his business had a terrible 19 out of 100 credit score. Bad credit scores are influenced by things like tax liens, judgments, collections, and high debt. In the case of Trump’s business, the score is very much indicative of the way he treats his staff, organization, and team: carelessly.
See, the problem isn’t just that Trump is greatly increasing the USSS workload. The issue is that some of his agents also feel like they’re being mistreated and disrespected.
According to Christina Wilkie, a reporter for the Center for Public Integrity, multiple sources have told her that agents are “at the end of their rope, sick of being treated like servants by Trump.”
According to a recent tweet from Wilkie, here sources told her, “Clinton treated USSS agents like friends. Bush treated them with great respect. Obama, like family. Trump treats them like servants.”
The reports from Alles and Wilkie obviously aren’t a good look for the Trump administration, but nobody on either side should be that surprised. Since taking over the Oval Office, here’s a list of names of people who have either resigned or been fired from The White House: Patrick Kennedy, Sally Yates, Michael Flynn, Craig Deare, Preet Bharara, Angella Reid, James Comey, Michel Dubke, Sean Spicer, Michael Short, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci, Steve Bannon, and Carl Icahn. Others who have had their names mentioned include Jeff Sessions, Rex Tillerson, Jared Kushner, and Kellyanne Conway.
It should also be pointed out that Trump’s Manufacturing Council was disbanded after eight of the members left.
Not a Good Look
It’s the Secret Service’s job to guard the president, no matter the cost. However, it’s also the president’s unspoken duty to respect this arm of the government in how he utilizes and treats them.
Clearly, President Trump seems to have missed the memo. And while we can all hope he’ll turn things around and have a change of heart, his track record seems to indicate this is who he is…so deal with it.