USA TODAY International Edition
Trump’s ‘working vacation’ pricey
2017 Bedminster stay cost taxpayers $185K
Last August, President Trump spent 17 days in Bedminster, N.J.
The cost for that “working vacation”? $185,000, at a minimum.
Internal documents from the Secret Service and the Air Force obtained, reviewed and verified by USA TODAY, showed the cost breakdowns — providing a detailed look at exactly how much a trip to Trump’s personal properties costs taxpayers.
Since become president, Trump often travels to his own properties on the weekend. A USA TODAY review of Trump’s first year in office showed he visited at least one of his properties on 38 of 52 weekends, or about 73% of his weekends.
And these travels are costly. While the exact dollar amount is unclear, the travels put a strain on Secret Service resources.
Still, it’s worth noting that when he was in office, Barack Obama’s trips were far from cheap. According to Air Force documents acquired by Judicial Watch, Obama’s final August trip as president to Martha’s Vineyard in 2016 cost more than $450,000 in flight costs alone.
The main reason for the cost difference: Obama had a longer flight to Massachusetts compared with Trump’s travels to New Jersey, which meant he had to use the larger Boeing VC-25. The aircraft, typically used for Air Force One, has a high cost per flying hour.
Presidential flights
Per documents verified and reviewed by USA TODAY, one big cost was the president’s flights during his “working vacation.” Over the course of his 17-day trip, the president flew a total of six times on Boeing C-32s, the aircraft more typically used for vice presidential and other official travel. That led to 7.4 hours of travel time.
Per the fiscal 2017 cost per flying hour for that aircraft, those flight costs totaled $118,355.60.
Trump traveled to and from Morristown Municipal Airport to start and end his “working vacation” in Bedminster, when he stayed at the Trump National Golf Club. He also went back to Washington to meet about Chinese trade practices, to New York and to and from Camp David.
The most costly of the travels were when the president went to Camp David on Aug. 18 for a military strategy meeting — and then flew right back to Bedminster, resulting in flight costs of $36,786.20.
The Air Force declined to comment on the travel.
Secret Service stays
The Secret Service also racked up at least a $46,000 bill for hotel lodging during the Bedminster trip.
The Secret Service booked rooms at a Courtyard Marriott property from July 31 to Aug. 26, 2017, which encompassed Trump’s own stay from Aug. 420, 2017, according to the documents.
The final cost for that booking was $46,188.56, averaging to about $1,776 a night.
The documents show that 38 agents rotated staying at the hotel during that time period, with stays that ranged from one day to 16 days.
Protecting Trump — who often travels to his own properties on the weekends, no matter the time of year — has been a costly endeavor for the Secret Service.
Other Secret Service costs during the August Bedminster trip include spending $7,100 on luxury portable restrooms and $13,600 on golf cart rentals.
The Secret Service did not return requests for comment.