Trump Relishes His Club’s Hot Dogs So Much He Insists His Secret Service Detail Chow Down — Then Sticks Agency With the Bill

Donald Trump golfing (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky); Hot dogs (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

President Donald Trump reportedly makes sure the Secret Service agents protecting him get a taste of his golf club’s hot dogs — before his business sticks the agency with the bill.

A Monday Forbes report by Dan Alexander takes readers inside Trump’s golf outings, including his apparent devotion to the hot dogs served near the 11th hole at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, D.C.

“He has this weird, very odd pride about how good the hot dogs are,” a former club employee told Forbes. “The chef has to be out there. And he’s like, ‘Chef, get everyone a hot dog — all these guys.’”

“All these guys,” according to Alexander, includes around 30 golf carts full of Secret Service agents accompanying Trump around the course. The staff has at times prepared as many as 50 hot dogs for the sprawling entourage.

There are, though, no free franks for the president’s protective detail.

Because ethics rules restrict agents from accepting gifts from the people they protect, a former employee said the club created an account that allowed Trump to hand out the hot dogs while ultimately charging the Secret Service for them.

“There, in one all-beef transaction, is the Trump presidency in miniature,” wrote Alexander. “Trump owns the club. Trump controls the chef. Trump doles out the hot dogs. Trump watches everyone eat them. Then Trump’s business sends the government the bill.”

Forbes did not detail how much the Secret Service has been billed. Alexander did reveal, funnily enough, that some agents “secretly arrange for slimmed-down dogs — an act of insubordination coordinated directly with the chef.”

Trump himself apparently does not skimp on the toppings. One former employee said the president piles on “as much mustard and relish that you could possibly imagine,” while another described his mustard technique as “very artistic.”

The White House disputed a former employee’s claim, however, that Trump frequently needed a new shirt after eating, telling Forbes, “Not true that he frequently spills on himself.”

The hot-dog ritual is just one detail in Alexander’s extensive account of Trump’s time on the links. Forbes calculated that Trump has visited one of his golf properties on roughly 165 of about 600 days since returning to office, spending more than 1,400 hours at them.

And when Trump’s posse approaches other golfers on the course, they apparently move right aside — “basically parting the Red Sea,” one playing partner told Forbes — to let him play through.

When he finishes his round and enters the grill, members now routinely rise and applaud, a ritual Alexander said did not exist before he became president and has since spread to multiple Trump clubs.

“So weird,” a former employee remarked.

A White House spokesperson defended the president’s schedule to the magazine, calling his work ethic “unmatched” and noting that Trump holds meetings and attends fundraisers while at his clubs.

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