Donald Trump could make $3 million a year off his own security detail by making them pay rent at Trump Tower

Security for the President-elect is already costing New York City $1m a day

Heavily armed police walk through the lobby of Trump Tower (BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

The US taxpayer could pay up to $3 million (£2.4m) to President-elect Donald Trump’s company in order to provide security for him at Trump Tower, it has been reported.

The Secret Service and NYPD are likely to need two floors in the New York skyscraper to house more than 250 security officers.

Mr Trump’s flagship Fifth Avenue building has priced vacant floor space at $105 (£84) per square foot, according to the New York Post, amounting to $1.5 million (£1.2m) a year per floor.

It is not unusual for the Secret Service to pay rent on workspace to protect the senior political figures outside official residences.

But this is likely to be the first time the government agency has had to pay a company belonging to the President-elect to provide his own security.

Sources told the newspaper a permanent security office is planned in the building, though 40 floors below the Trump residence on the top floor.

Mr Trump has indicated that he intends to spend less time in Washington than his predecessors and may use Trump Tower as a key base outside of the White House.

In addition, his wife Melania and his youngest son, Barron, 10, are likely to stay longer in their 58th floor penthouse apartment complex well into next year.

However, other residents, fed up of the heightened security and protests outside the building, looking to move out and are selling up.

Thirty one units in Trump Tower have been put up for sale or rent at low prices, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Meanwhile, New York City officials told CNN they security costs for the President-elect and his family are running over $1million (£800,000) per day.

There were significant protests when Mr Trump was elected, with demonstrators expressing anger against his divisive campaign, which had strong xenophobic and Islamophobic overtones.

Many of the demonstrations took place outside Trump Tower and have continued, albeit in smaller numbers.

However, the building’s location in the middle of New York – a city which voted overwhelmingly for Hilary Clinton – is likely to make it a draw for future demonstrations against Mr Trump and potentially a flashpoint for disorder.