Want more from Front Office Sports
in your search results?
New records released by the Secret Service continue to shed light on what it cost the agency to protect President Donald Trump as he crisscrossed the nation for major sporting events in his first year back in office.
According to new documents obtained through a public records request by Front Office Sports, the Secret Service racked up $561,842.63 in expenses for a trip to the Daytona 500. Hotel payments made up more than half of that total.
FOS reported last year that Trump’s trip to the Super Bowl cost the Secret Service more than $120,000, with about $7,000 paid to the NFL and the rest spent on agent accommodations.
The Secret Service this week released the Daytona 500 expense reports to FOS in addition to records for two other trips Trump made in early 2025: the NCAA Division I men’s wrestling championship in Philadelphia in March, and UFC 314 in Miami in April. The agency expensed $65,252.31 and $45,310 for those trips, respectively.
Trump has an affinity for combat sports and is longtime friends with UFC CEO Dana White, who donated to the president’s 2024 campaign. The White House plans to host a UFC card on Trump’s 80th birthday in June.
Across the three events, the Secret Service disclosed nearly $675,000 in spending. About 60% of those costs went to hotels for agents, who usually show up days in advance, and the rest was mostly for equipment like tents and generators.
The expense reports do not show a complete picture of how much these events cost the government. Operating Air Force One on its own for around $178,000 per hour far outpaces the Secret Service expenses. The agency also has not turned over other expenses such as meals, travel, or agent pay. And Trump is far from the first U.S. president whose personal interests and travels have driven Secret Service costs.
But Trump is attending significantly more major sporting events than his predecessors, including ones that already require heavy security like the FIFA Club World Cup final, US Open men’s singles final—where Trump’s presence caused a 30-minute delay—and College Football Playoff national championship.
These expense reports provide a look into how much it costs the federal government to keep up with Trump’s sports fandom.
Including the Super Bowl, the Secret Service has expensed nearly $800,000 for the first four major sporting events Trump attended in his second term. Since then, he also went to UFC 316, the Club World Cup final, the US Open, a Yankees game on 9/11, the Ryder Cup, a Washington Commanders game, the Army–Navy game, and the college football national championship game. FOS has also requested expense reports for each of these trips.
Here’s a breakdown of the three new expense reports:
Daytona 500
Of the first four sporting events Trump attended in his second term, NASCAR’s Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 was by far the most expensive for the Secret Service, according to the expense reports.
In protecting Trump, his son Eric, daughter-in-law Lara, and two grandchildren, the Secret Service expensed $561,842.63 broken down into:
- $335,448.26 to 11 hotels, with payments ranging from roughly $8,300 to more than $75,000 at an official Walt Disney World hotel.
- $213,738.20 to an event company for “Tent(s), Fans, Heaters, etc.”
- $8,832.00 for a “Purchase Adjustment” also coded as “Lodging/Temporary Duty.”
- $3,544.18 to Daytona International Speedway for bike racks.
- $279.99 to Bubbles Car Wash for “All Fleet Management.” Trump’s motorcade did a lap around the track.
Due to hotel costs and limited availability, agents sometimes have to book hotels farther away from the site of the presidential visit to try to stay within government rates set by the General Services Administration. During the Super Bowl in New Orleans, some agents stayed as far away as Baton Rouge and Biloxi, Mississippi.
While working in the smaller market of Daytona Beach, agents mostly stayed in Orlando, about an hour away.
NCAA DI Men’s Wrestling Championship
The Secret Service expensed $65,252.31 to protect Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, on their trip to the South Philadelphia arena on March 22. Other government officials who went to the event, like then-DOGE head Elon Musk and press secretary Karoline Leavitt, were not listed as “protectees” on reports provided by the Secret Service.
Agents only expensed one hotel, the Philadelphia Airport Marriott, for $35,585.56. The remaining expenses were for tents with lights and generators.
The documents have some discrepancies: there are some payments that appear to be incorrectly linked to multiple vendors.
UFC 314
The Secret Service listed only Trump as a “protectee” for his April 12 trip to UFC 314 at the Heat’s Kaseya Center. Musk, who left the federal government in May, also attended and was once again not listed.
The agency expensed $45,310 for the trip to South Florida.
Most of the money—$31,117—went to four hotels. Two smaller payments of $675 and $350 went to a scissor lift and “golf cars,” respectively.
The rest of the expenses were for tents and generators, though again, there are inconsistencies in the records where a single payment is linked to two different vendors.
Download the FOS App
The business of sports, in your pocket.
Scan the QR code to get the app now.
