With his seventh trip to Palm Beach this weekend, Donald Trump will have stayed at one of his properties for more than one-third of his presidency — 30 of 86 days — and at Mar a Lago for a full 30 percent of his presidency — 25 of the 86 days he’s been president.
Not only is that an exorbitant amount of vacation time at his for-profit country club, it adds up to serious costs that taxpayers are forced to accept and gives access to his club members who pay him more than $200,000 so they can push their business interests on Trump.
After this weekend, taxpayers will have paid at least $28.1 million to cover Trump’s trips — money that could have instead covered:
The monthly Social Security benefits for 20,662 retirees.
A Meals on Wheels meal for 4,683,333 people.
Public college educations for 2,912 students.
Paperback books for 4,446,203 children.
A vacation for 24,541 Americans.
“Donald Trump spends more time golfing and in Florida than most retirees. If he spent half the time he golfs on creating jobs, maybe some of the 60,000 Americans who’ve received pink slips under Trump’s watch would still have a paycheck. Trump has conned American taxpayers out of nearly $30 million to fund his lavish vacations that have preoccupied more than one-third of his presidency. He ought to stop vacationing on the taxpayers’ dime and start doing his job.” — Kevin McAlister, American Bridge spokesperson.
Published: Apr 13, 2017