Waste of the Day: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Trips Cost Tens of Millions
Topline: President Donald Trump has already visited his Mar-a-Lago resort and golf course six times since taking office in January. The trips have cost taxpayers roughly $6 million in travel costs and forced Palm Beach County to approve $45 million in security costs, according to The Guardian.
Key facts: The two-hour flight from Washington, D.C. to Mar-a-Lago costs roughly $1 million round trip, the Associated Press previously estimated. Most of the bill is from Air Force One, which costs $200,000 per hour to operate. An additional plane carrying the presidential motorcade adds to the cost. Trump also takes a helicopter from the White House to Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One departs.
Palm Beach County must also pay for Trump’s security, transportation and more, which Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told ABC25 News costs about $240,000 per day. Most of it is spent on police overtime, which Bradshaw said is the only way to avoid pulling employees away from their normal police work.
The county recently approved $45 million in funding for Trump’s visits. The money is intended to last until November, but Bradshaw told The Guardian he is “certain” it will not be enough. He told ABC25, the dollar amount is based on the frequency of Trump’s visits during his first term, but Trump has been visiting Mar-a-Lago “more than we thought he was.”
OpenTheBooks has salary data for Palm Beach County dating back to 2018, but the sheriff’s office has not provided its payroll. Our auditors recently filed an open records request to determine if overtime earnings were abnormally large during Trump’s first term.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Critical quote: “I've gotten a lot of emails and calls, and even people have stopped me in the grocery store and said, you know, this is a lot of money that the county and that they, the citizens, are paying for in terms of the amount needed for presidential protection,” Palm Beach County Commissioner Bobby Powell Jr. told ABC25. “I just want to make sure people understand where that's coming from.”
The federal government reimbursed Palm Beach for the expenses during Trump’s first term. There is no guarantee the county will be reimbursed again. If they are, it could take up to a year for the money to arrive, ABC25 reported.
Summary: As DOGE looks for wasteful expenses to cut from the government, it’s possible Trump’s own resort trips should be at the top of the list.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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