The Air Force reported $180,118 as the cost per flight hour for the AF1 in FY 2016. The costs per flight hour for AF1 have dipped to $140,000, according to Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch. The easily ascertainable costs are the operational costs of the Air Force One. Each of the Presidential trips need an all inclusive security setup – security personnel take advance trips to the destination, logistics, supplies flown in by multiple cargo carriers and flying in cabinet members, staff and even the preferred chef. The last time the president’s travel expenditure was scrutinized was back in 1999 when President Clinton’s 1998 visit to Africa, Chile, and China was brought under the scope by the Government Accountability Office and a follow up to the report was undertaken in 2000, analyzing the air lift costs. Even though the exact amount of the travel expenditure of a president is not made public, we can obviously have an idea of the actual figure if we consider foreign trips and the flying costs. There have been many controversies and comparisons of Trump and his predecessor’s travel plans in these few months but these are not the only two presidents who have spent enormous amounts on travel. The travel costs included both official and family trips.Īccording to the Judicial Watch review, the documents contain information regarding one of Obama’s political fund raising trips to San Diego, Earth Day trip to the Florida Everglades, the first lady’s trip to Morocco, her annual Aspen ski trip, a family vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, as well as Hillary Clinton’s ride with Obama on Air Force One to North Carolina. In comparison, a December 2016 Government Accountability Office report reviewed by Judicial Watch found that Obama took a similar four-day trip to Florida in 2013 and his trip cost was $3.6 million.ĭuring his two terms of presidency, Obama spent nearly $97 million on travel, according to documents reviewed by Judicial Watch. Interagency Council on Homelessness for four years, which is budgeted at $4 million in 2016, if he had not gone vacationing so frequently. But spending more than $12 million for seven trips to Mar-a-Lago in Florida appears to contradict his budget proposal.Įach of his trips was estimated to cost $3 million. President Donald Trump, in his 2018 budget plan, proposed to cut down on some social programs as well as research projects and allocate those funds for homeland security and defense. Trump might be on track to spend more taxpayer money on travel during his first year of presidency than former President Barack Obama spent during his eight years in office. Trump has not yet traveled abroad.Īccording to CNN, earlier this month Trump has been at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Florida, for a total of 21 days till now during his 80 days of presidency, which could have cost an estimated $21.6 million. Obama spent an average of $12.1 million in travels per year - Trump is near to the annual target in just one month as he spent at least $10 million in three golf vacations only out of the total of seven trips to his resort.
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