Mar-a-Lago: The price of Trump's 'Winter White House'

[riversedge]

Mar-a-Lago: The price of Trump's 'Winter White House'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39497447


By Joel Gunter BBC News, Washington

9 hours ago




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Mar-a-Lago

$3.3 million

Estimated cost of each weekend trip by President Trump to Mar-a-Lago

$120,000

Daily overtime pay for local police officers when Trump is in town

$200,000 Up front cost for membership (doubled after the election)

500 Members of Mar-a-Lago, where membership records are private

$65,000 Cost so far to one small skywriting business which can’t fly on the weekends

Government Accountability Office; Palm Beach County; Skywords Advertising
Getty Images

There are no official expenses yet for Trump's weekend trips - the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just announced it will begin a review - but travel and security are estimated to cost the taxpayer somewhere in the region of $3.3m per trip, based on a GAO assessment of a similar trip by Barack Obama.

Mr Trump has at his disposal the traditional presidential retreat of Camp David, in Maryland, where for decades presidents have hosted foreign leaders. Camp David is a short helicopter trip from the White House and, as an existing Naval base, security comes cheap.

But the retreat was apparently not to Mr Trump's taste. "Camp David is very rustic, it's nice, you'd like it," he told a reporter. "You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."

[Rhiannon12866]

1. One of the most infuriating things, he makes no effort to hide his arrogance and ignorance

And it's an insult to this country to dismiss the history of Camp David.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Winter's over.

Stop calling it the "Winter White House". Trump will be there all year.