Donald Trump has had a few strenuous weeks — what with multiple investigations into his campaign’s communications with Russia, his Labor Secretary getting spiked by fellow Republicans, his Muslim Ban stalled in federal court, and his National Security Advisor resigning for “trust” issues (not potentially illegal talks with Russians) — so we can understand why he’d want to get out of Washington, DC. Every. Single. Weekend.
But taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for his weekend jaunts to Mar a Lago just because Trump is incompetent and needs to go on vacation three of the four weekends of his first month on the job.
In total, Trump’s trips will have cost taxpayers at least $11,796,000 and at least $2,240,000 in lost revenue to local businesses, including:
- $200,000 per hour to fly Air Force One.
- More than $3,000,000 from the federal government for each round trip to Mar a Lago.
- More than $1,770,000 from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department for overtime pay.
- More than $26,000 from the West Palm Beach police and fire department for overtime pay.
- More than $217,000 in lost revenue to the Palm Beach International Airport through Feb. 6, 2017.
- More than $75,000 in lost revenue to the Lantana Airport through Feb. 20, 2017.
- More than $2,000,000 in lost revenue to the Palm Beach Aircraft Services estimated throughout 2017.
Maybe Trump should take his advice to spend less time travelling and more time dealing with the global wildfires he has caused.
Published: Feb 17, 2017