It’s no secret that President Obama racks up some serious air miles, but this year alone, the commander-in-chief is expected to rack up more than $24 million in costs for Air Force One.
A National Taxpayer’s Union Foundation member told The Washington Examiner that Obama’s Air Force One bill for his recent trip to Africa was more than $6.5 million — all on the taxpayers’ dime.
Obama is making himself known as one of the most traveled presidents in history. According to a NTUF study of presidential travel, the forty-fourth leader was the second-most traveled president for a single term, spending 95 days on 25 trips. His flight back from Tanzania on Tuesday is his 14th overseas flight this year.
The study also concludes that Obama has a tendency to take shorter trips more often, which are likely to result in larger bills than previous presidents have incurred.
“Obama nearly spent as many days abroad as the current single presidential term leader, George H.W. Bush, despite focusing for nearly half his term on the longest and most expensive campaign in history,” NTUF reported.
“We can only imagine how expensive these travel costs truly are, and how far President Obama will travel with no campaign this term.”
The Foundation calculates Air Force One costs by looking at published hourly figures provided by the Pentagon and taking the median cruise speed of the jet applied to the distances traveled.
Between hotel expenses and the cost of the security and staff that travel with the president, Air Force One costs are just the tip of the iceberg.
Michelle Obama has been logging a good deal of travel time as well, making trips to Ireland, Africa, Western Europe, and Copenhagen.
Michael Tasselmyer, the study’s author concluded, “The frequency and growing cost of presidential travel call for more transparency, when it does not directly compromise security. As it stands now, taxpayers are shelling out untold millions with little opportunity for oversight. No matter who is in office, Americans should have the facts they need to have a rational conversation on the merits and affordability of a Chief Executive’s journeys.”
