Pence defends decision to stay at Trump Doonbeg property

September 3, 2019

Vice President Mike Pence’s staff is defending his decision to stay at one of President Donald Trump’s properties while in Ireland amid criticism by Democrats that he’s enriching Trump at taxpayers’ expense.

Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said Tuesday that the decision to stay at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg was made at the president’s “suggestion” and that Pence and his entourage won’t be staying for free.

Short told reporters during the trip that when Pence’s team was going through details of the trip, they noted the Pence family originally hails from Doonberg.

“It’s like, ‘Well, you should stay at my place,'” Short attempted to explain.

Short says Pence’s office followed protocol and received State Department sign-off. He says the club is the “one facility” in the Doonbeg area that can accommodate Pence’s team.

But while Mr. Trump’s property Doonbeg is clear on the opposite side of Ireland, one would assume the Trump organization is making money from his stay, including staff and secret service. This presumably also is costing taxpayers a lot more money than if he had stayed in Dublin and took a car to his meetings.

“We always explore lower cost options, which is why, you know, you have basically different footprints for this trip as well. But when you’re in Doonbeg tonight and you’re with the vice president on some of the official visits he’s also doing, you’ll also see there are not a lot of options in that community,” Short explained when asked about other lower cost options for the Pence’s stay.

Pence is traveling with his wife, his mother and his sister. Short says Pence is personally covering costs for his mother and his sister.

Pence is commuting into Dublin for meetings with Irish officials.

Ben Tracy and Emily Tillett contributed reporting.