The Trump clan, livin’ the good life on your tax dollar!
You could say it’s similar to a family of oligarchs running a bust-out operation – or that it actually is!
Barely a month into the Trump presidency, the unusually elaborate lifestyle of America’s new first family is straining the Secret Service and security officials, stirring financial and logistical concerns in several local communities, and costing far beyond what has been typical for past presidents — a price tag that, based on past assessments of presidential travel and security costs, could balloon into the hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of a four-year term.
Adding to the costs and complications is Trump’s inclination to conduct official business surrounded by crowds of people, such as his decision last weekend to host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a working dinner while Mar-a-Lago members dined nearby.
The handful of government agencies that bear the brunt of the expenses, including the Defense and Homeland Security departments, have not responded to Washington Post requests for data laying out the costs since Trump took office.
But some figures have dribbled out, while others can be gleaned from government documents.
Trump’s three Mar-a-Lago trips since the inauguration have likely cost the federal treasury roughly $10 million, based on figures used in an October government report analyzing White House travel, including money for Coast Guard units to patrol the exposed shoreline and other military, security and staffing expenses associated with moving the apparatus of the presidency.
Palm Beach County officials plan to ask Washington to reimburse tens of thousands of dollars a day in expenses for deputies handling added security and traffic issues around the cramped Florida island whenever Trump is in town.
In New York, the city is paying $500,000 a day to guard Trump Tower, according to police officials’ estimates, an amount that could reach $183 million a year.
This month, The Post reported that Secret Service and U.S. embassy staff paid nearly $100,000 in hotel-room bills to support Eric Trump’s trip to promote a Trump-brand condo tower in Uruguay.
“This is an expensive way to conduct business, and the president should recognize that,” said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, which closely tracked President Barack Obama’s family vacation costs and said it intends to continue the effort for the Trump administration.
Salon adds this stunning factoid:
By contrast, although Judicial Watch regularly criticized President Obama for forcing taxpayers to cover his vacation costs, they estimated that his expenses only equaled roughly $97 million during his eight-year presidency — a fraction of what is anticipated for Trump.
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Copyright 2017 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
17 responses to The Trump clan, livin’ the good life on your tax dollar!
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Mike February 17th, 2017 at 16:23
Fiscally responsible cons don’t put a price on security …
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:34
that only applies when the last name ends in (R).
Larry Schmitt February 17th, 2017 at 16:24
Remind me again how much crap we heard every time Obama went on vacation to Hawaii or Martha’s Vineyard, how much of the public’s money he was wasting? As if no previous president had ever taken AF One on personal trips? As if the president has a choice to travel on his own, without the Secret Service? They have very selective memories.
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:33
continuously – but, then again, it’s becoming pretty well self evident that like LIAR trump, republicans in general are LIARS.
amersham1046 February 17th, 2017 at 17:23
Do you really think anybody in the Trump clan cares
Mike N. February 18th, 2017 at 09:30
I think they do care; they care about how much free money they can steal from people who actually pay taxes. They don’t pay taxes, so it’s not their money.
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:32
you’re in the wrong web site to be asking such an easy question.
answer: HELL NO!
Charlie Seivard February 17th, 2017 at 17:38
They should enjoy their cake now because they are going to choke on it very soon.
StoneyCurtisll February 18th, 2017 at 02:25
I hope you are right.
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:30
unfortunately, so will the innocent who have no cake at all!
robert February 18th, 2017 at 04:05
How does that abstract saying go….
A fool and their vote are soon parted
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:29
I would guess a new saying for the ‘new’ republican government run by billionaires for billionaires ONLY will become something on the lie:
a nation that is stupid enough to allow a republican run government 3X in one lifetime has just F*CKED ITSELF OVER FOR GOOD!…?
robert February 18th, 2017 at 11:20
Good point ( they) went back to that abusive father more then once
fahvel February 18th, 2017 at 04:21
1. your pres isn’t worth it – 2. his children are irrelevant. 3. his wife chose to live life dangerously; let her!!! also, the usa has made itself a global target so maybe it should live with it too or make the orange follow some simple rules like, “Don’t Walk”
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:25
unfortunately, math isn’t exactly one of the republican’s stronger points (ref: multi trillion dollar undeclared ‘wars’ of the recent past where many billions went missing).
if LIAR trump stays on course like POTUS Reagan, we’ll wind up with a little over 75 TRILLION in debt by the end of 2019. granting immediate amnesty to all who wish to become citizens then will knock enough of a dent in the last quarter of FY 2020 for the republican owned MSM to start touting a ‘turnaround in the imploding economy’ – hoping for a re-election of 4 more years of plundering the national treasury. by 2024, the national debt will be a little over 120 trillion.
granpa.usthai February 18th, 2017 at 09:17
like anything has changed for the pumpkinhead welfare queen of all times plus?
hell, the trump klan has done nothing but TAKE from the national treasury their entire existence…..
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they turn out to be the TRILLION dollar deadbeat tax cheats instead of the measly BILLION dollar tax cheats they are now.
LIAR trump is nothing but a deadbeat LIAR. always has been, always will be.
William February 18th, 2017 at 09:57
A leech living in government housing, and not paying taxes.https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/56b5d798da8e57a10c1b4ea6ab7134c0117e02bda57af57e63ddff1d4214baf1.jpg