How Much Money Has Trump Used Going To Mar A Lago

President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month in Palm Beach, Fla.

WASHINGTON — Critics for decades have sniped at the cost of presidential travel, simply Donald Trump's frequent — and expensive — trips to his Florida resort to conduct government business and play golf take sparked a level of disapproval his predecessors never faced.

Trump, who as a citizen needled President Obama for his taxpayer-funded travel, already has racked upward millions in government expenses for repeated trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

He has visited his Wintertime White House vii times since he was inaugurated Jan. twenty, spending nearly a quarter of his fourth dimension as the leader of the costless world either traveling to or staying at the glitzy resort.

And when he does visit other parts of the state, it'southward often in entrada-manner rallies meant to gin up his base of operations — not the more policy-oriented speeches before Republican and Democratic presidents delivered during their first 100 days in places such as Omaha, Beaver, Pa. or Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Transporting, securing and protecting the get-go family in a densely populated stretch of South Florida is an expensive job, said James McCann, a political science professor at Purdue Academy in Indiana who has studied presidential travel.

"The fact that he'southward a repeat company puts a real drain on local municipal service," McCann said. "It'southward a real burden on local airline providers. When the president comes in, everything has to end."

– Federal travel and security costs for Mar-a-Lago visits have already added upwards to millions if a Government Accountability Function review of a four-twenty-four hour period trip Obama took in February 2016 is whatsoever yardstick.

Obama'southward trip, which began with an official visit to Chicago and ended with a golf game outing in Florida, toll U.Southward. taxpayers $3.6 million. Although GAO declined to isolate the expenses tied to the Florida portion of the trip, Obama spent all three nights in the Sunshine Land before returning to Washington. The review did non examine local or state agency costs.

– The Palm Beach Sheriff'southward Office has already logged $3.v 1000000 in overtime costs through April ix for which it'south seeking reimbursement, according to an agency spokeswoman.

The Sheriff's office spends roughly $60,000 in overtime every day to provide protection and traffic control when the president is at his Winter White House, she said. The visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month toll the county $ 1.5 1000000.

– A Washington Mail service assay finds that the cost of Declension Baby-sit protection of Mar-a-Lago (Spanish for "Sea to Lake"), which sits on land straddling the Atlantic Ocean to the due east and the Intracoastal Waterway to the west, is piling upwards and could run into the "tens of millions" over his four-twelvemonth term.

The increased costs to protect the president come equally Trump is proposing to slash $1.3 billion — or 12% — from the Coast Guard budget. A bipartisan grouping of senators wrote in a letter to Trump budget manager Mick Mulvaney that the cut would compromise maritime security.

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Protecting Mar-a-Lago is more than complicated and costly compared to the second homes of previous presidents, specially given Trump's penchant of inviting over world leaders. Aside from Xi, the president besides has hosted Japanese Prime Minster Shinzō Abe in Feb.

Providing round-the-clock protection in such a high-traffic office of the state has meant complex security arrangements involving numerous federal and local law enforcement.

In contrast, Ronald Reagan's retreats to the hills of Santa Barbara, George H.W. Bush's escapes to Kennebunkport, Maine, and George W. Bush'southward jaunts to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, were cheaper to safeguard considering they not only were less frequent but also involved accommodations that were more than isolated.

What hasn't changed? Critics only too happy to dredge up his previous criticism of Obama'southward trips and bewail the millions of taxpayer dollars spent protecting Trump and his family every time they visit Mar-a-Lago.

"The criticism here is near laughably situational" said Brendan Doherty, a politics professor at the U.S. Naval University in Annapolis who studies presidential trips. "Democrats take an awful lot to say near President Trump's travels. Republicans had an awful lot to say near President Obama's travels. Simply they're adequately quiet of form when it's the president of their ain party who is going on and so-called vacations at great expense to taxpayers."

On cue, it is Democrats who accept led the scrutiny of Trump'southward travels.

The Regime Accountability Office agreed last month to await into security and cost concerns raised by the president'due south visits to Mar-a-Lago after a request by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and 3 other Capitol Colina Democrats.

Three other congressional Democrats, each of whom stand for portions of Palm Beach County, are seeking reimbursement for security costs incurred by local emergency responders. They've as well raised concerns that the security footprint required of a presidential visit has cost local flight-related businesses collectively more $700,000 because of air space restrictions that have grounded planes and helicopters.

"During your campaign and presidency, yous vowed to make jobs more than plentiful and government less wasteful," Reps. Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings and Ted Deutch wrote to Trump. "We sincerely request that you lead by example."

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer last calendar month dedicated the president's frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago as working trips, not vacations.

"Presidents always travel. And I retrieve the president, wherever he goes, he carries the appliance of the White Firm," Spicer said. "The president will continue to go and travel around the country and have meetings to solve the nation's bug. He (works) seven days a week. This is where he goes to come across his family. He brings people downwardly there. This is office of being president."

Trump was less charitable about Obama's travel.

In 2012, Trump tweeted his displeasure: "President @BarackObama'due south vacation is costing taxpayers millions of dollars----Unbelievable!"

In 2014, Trump jabbed Obama again on Twitter: "We pay for Obama's travel and so he can fundraise millions so Democrats tin run on lies. So we pay for his golf."

The revenue Trump's visits generate does not begin to cover the expense local governments shoulder. A preliminary study by the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Quango concluded that a four-night visit by the president'due south entourage and the news media covering him (about 300 people) generates only about $15,000 in local bed and sales taxes.

Simply Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of county-sponsored Discover the Palm Beaches Florida, said the Wintertime White House lends a prestige factor.

"From a tourism perspective, nosotros expect that the renewed media focus on the president'south ocean front end retreat will raise the profile of The Palm Beaches and entice curious travelers to explore the vast array of recreational and cultural activities, innovative restaurants and award-winning hotels that these headlining celebrities frequent during their regular visits," he said.