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The price tag for travel and protection of President Donald Trump and his family could cost taxpayers a record sum of money over his four-year term, the Washington Post reports.

In his first 30 days as president, it cost an estimated $10 million just for the president’s three trips to his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, the newspaper said.

The government also picked up the tab for his sons’, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., Secret Service security while conducting family business overseas. Meanwhile, local taxpayers are covering the ongoing expense to station police officers outside Trump Tower in Manhattan to protect First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron, a $500,000 a day expense that New York City taxpayers hope to recoup from the federal government.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, told the Post that Trump “should recognize” that the way he does business is expensive. A short helicopter ride to the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland is far less expensive than jetting to a Florida resort.

“The unique thing about President Trump is that he knows what it costs to run a plane,” Fitton stated.

Trump’s hypocrisy is also glaring. As the Post noted, Trump repeatedly criticized former President Barack Obama for his golf outings and vacations. But Trump is on track to surpass Obama’s travel expenses, estimated at $97 million by Judicial Watch. Based on the first month of his presidency, Trump will stick taxpayers with travel expenses reaching hundreds of millions more than President Obama.

Although Trump stepped down from running his company, he’s still earning money–at the public’s expense. According to the Post, the Department of Defense and Secret Service want to rent space in Trump Tower, where it costs $1.5 million a year to lease a floor.

At the same time, his adult sons are running up the government’s tab while doing family business. The Secret Service spent $5,470 for its agents to stay at a five-star, oceanfront hotel to provide security in the Dominican Republic while Eric Trump met with developers who want to build a Trump resort on the island. And the agency’s hotel bill surpassed $16,000 when Trump’s sons did business in Dubai, the Post reported.

The newspaper also reported that Secret Service and U.S. Embassy staffers paid nearly $100,000 in hotel fees to support Eric Trump’s business trip to Uruguay.

The White House, in an interview with the Post, said the president is working–not vacationing–when he travels to Mar-a-Lago and did not address potential conflicts of interest related to family travels.

SOURCE: Washington Post

SEE ALSO:

Melania Trump Reveals Plans To Leverage Office Of First Lady To Make Millions

U.S. Ethics Chief Criticizes Donald Trump’s Proposed Halfway Blind Trust

 

Trump On Track To Surpass Obama In Travel Expenses  was originally published on newsone.com