Donald Trump's travel to his private club in Florida has cost over an estimated $20 million in his first 80 days as president, putting the president on pace in his first year of office to surpass former President Barack Obama's spending on travel for his entire eight years.
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Given variations in each trip, estimating the security costs around a presidential trip is difficult. But a 2016 Government Accountability Office report about a four-day trip Obama took to Florida in 2013 -- one similar to Trump's trips -- found the total cost to the Secret Service and Coast Guard was $3.6 million.
To date, Trump has spent six weekends -- and a total of 21 days -- at Mar-A-Lago, his private Palm Beach club. The total estimated costs for those trips are around $21.6 million.
Obama, by contrast, spent just under $97 million on travel in his eight years as president, according to documents reviewed by Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog. These trips included personal trips - including ski trips to Aspen and the Obama's annual family vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts -- and work trips, like a visit to Everglades National Park on Earth Day in 2015.
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The spending comes as Trump asks the federal government to slash non-defense spending by $54 billion, including deep cuts to the State Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the wholesale elimination of other federal programs. The proposed cuts, which are unlikely to be adopted in total, will correspond with $54 billion in increases to defense spending.
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But as much as the trips are a budget problem for Trump, they are also a public relations issue.
High costs of security and travel
Not only does Trump travel frequently, but New York City officials have said it costs between $127,000 to $146,000 a day to protect first lady Melania Trump when she is in New York and the president is not there.
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Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said earlier this month that the Department of Homeland Security will ask for additional funding to protect Trump.
"They need a lot more agents, not just because of the Trump era, although that is additional because he has a lot of children and grandchildren," Kelly told senators on the Homeland Security Committee. "We need more agents and we need more uniformed personnel."
Kelly also acknowledged the strain the Secret Service is under.
"We need a larger Secret Service," Kelly said, "because we need to get some of these people a little bit of time at home with their families."
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/10/p...sts/index.html1204AMStoryLink&linkId=36385866
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Gems from the past.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/151741365796085760
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/107091854092279808
....
Given variations in each trip, estimating the security costs around a presidential trip is difficult. But a 2016 Government Accountability Office report about a four-day trip Obama took to Florida in 2013 -- one similar to Trump's trips -- found the total cost to the Secret Service and Coast Guard was $3.6 million.
To date, Trump has spent six weekends -- and a total of 21 days -- at Mar-A-Lago, his private Palm Beach club. The total estimated costs for those trips are around $21.6 million.
Obama, by contrast, spent just under $97 million on travel in his eight years as president, according to documents reviewed by Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog. These trips included personal trips - including ski trips to Aspen and the Obama's annual family vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts -- and work trips, like a visit to Everglades National Park on Earth Day in 2015.
....
The spending comes as Trump asks the federal government to slash non-defense spending by $54 billion, including deep cuts to the State Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the wholesale elimination of other federal programs. The proposed cuts, which are unlikely to be adopted in total, will correspond with $54 billion in increases to defense spending.
....
But as much as the trips are a budget problem for Trump, they are also a public relations issue.
High costs of security and travel
Not only does Trump travel frequently, but New York City officials have said it costs between $127,000 to $146,000 a day to protect first lady Melania Trump when she is in New York and the president is not there.
....
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said earlier this month that the Department of Homeland Security will ask for additional funding to protect Trump.
"They need a lot more agents, not just because of the Trump era, although that is additional because he has a lot of children and grandchildren," Kelly told senators on the Homeland Security Committee. "We need more agents and we need more uniformed personnel."
Kelly also acknowledged the strain the Secret Service is under.
"We need a larger Secret Service," Kelly said, "because we need to get some of these people a little bit of time at home with their families."
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/10/p...sts/index.html1204AMStoryLink&linkId=36385866
------
Gems from the past.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/522108442514038784
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/151741365796085760
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/107091854092279808