Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, has dismissed criticism levelled at the vice president over his decision to stay at the US president’s Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, Ireland, saying that it was suggested by Donald Trump himself and approved by the State Department, AP reported.
The chief of staff further stressed that International Golf Links was the only facility in the vicinity of Doonbeg that could accommodate all of Pence's team and relatives travelling with him – his wife, mother, and sister.
Critics of this decision have suggested that Donald Trump would make a profit on American taxpayers paying for Pence and his team's stay at the facility. Short noted though that the vice president was paying for his mother and sister's stay out of his own pocket.
US President Donald Trump’s critics have long accused him of tax evasion and attempts to make a profit from his presidency, despite Trump denying the accusations and insisting that he has been losing money since he was elected in 2016. Democrats in the US Congress have been, so far unsuccessfully, trying to obtain Trump's tax records to find evidence of his alleged misdoings.
Trump most recently again sparked concerns that he is trying to make money off his presidency, after he suggested using his luxury golf resort in Doral, not far from Miami as a meeting place for the next G7 summit. The president later defended his stance by saying he doesn't "care about money".