President Trump’s weekend jaunts to his Mar-a-Lago golf resort are racking up Air Force One costs of over $600,000 each, according to documents provided by the service to Judicial Watch.
The taxpayer watchdog group, which sought similar cost figures for travel by the Obamas, revealed that the price for just two Trump trips of over four hours each on the jet cost $1,281,420. They break down this way:
— On Feb. 3-6, Air Force One traveled 4.7 hours of flight time of $142,380 per hour for a total of $669,186.
— On March 3-6, Air Force One flew 4.3 hours at $142,380 per hour for a total of $612,234, which included a short flight to Orlando, an additional half-hour of flight costs.
“We’re pleased the Air Force finally gave us some numbers for President Trump’s travel,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We’re preparing to go to court to get a full accounting of President Trump’s controversial trips. Judicial Watch tracked some of the costs of President Obama’s unnecessary travel and we’re not closing up shop with a new administration.”
Judicial Watch was able to tabulate nearly $100 million in mostly non-official business travel by the Obamas, including trips to Hawaii, Colorado ski resorts and Martha’s Vineyard.
Like those reports, however, the costs of security, communications and other necessities are not included and the government rarely provides those.
Also, it is not clear if Trump gets a discount while staying at his lodge.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
