Town of Palm Beach News

Trump’s Palm Beach Travels Cost Taxpayers Millions

Last month, a Government Accountability Office issued a report totaling the cost of President Trump’s first four trips to Palm Beach County at $13.6 million, as first reported by the Palm Beach Daily News.

These trips to Mar-a-Lago took place in February and March 2017, according to the GOA. This was just weeks after Donald Trump’s inauguration. One of the four trips studied was a high-profile visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

According to the report, the bulk of the taxpayer money—$10.6 million—was spent on the use of government aircraft and boats.

Trump’s Palm Beach Travels Cost Taxpayers Millions

Another $3 million was spent on “temporary duty costs.” These include government personnel supporting the president doing his travel, as well as transportation, lodging, meals and incidental expenses.

The remaining $60,000 was paid directly to Mar-a-Lago, mostly for Secret Service protection during the President’s visit.

“The majority of agents who supported the four trips during our time frame did not stay at Mar-a-Lago,” the report read. “The Secret Service booked a limited number of rooms around the President to meet operation security requirements. According to officials, these rooms allowed the Secret Service to provide 36-degree protection around the President.”

Related >>> Palm Beach Police Want Reimbursements for Trump’s Visits 

The GOA also noted that the salaries of the government personnel traveling with Trump were not included in the totals. The reason for this, the agency explained, was that those expenses would have been incurred whether the president was in Washington, Palm Beach, or elsewhere.

Although limited, the report offers an assessment of the costs charged to taxpayers for Trump’s travels to his private Palm Beach club. This Sunday, Trump completed his 19th trip to Mar-a-Lago since becoming president. An analysis by Bloomberg News based on the GOA report estimated the total cost of Trump’s Palm Beach travels to be $64 million.

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Alanna Barrett

Alanna Barrett

2 Comments

  1. Ted Donahue
    February 8, 2019 at 12:23 pm — Reply

    How does this “differentiate” Mr. Trump from any other POTUS in modern history??? Does the fact that things “cost more” in old Palm Beach and WPB mean that no one from this area should ever again be considered for a run for the White House? What a complete pile of pablum from this “reporter”….absurd!

  2. […] Related >>> Trump’s Palm Beach Travels Cost Taxpayers Millions […]

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