Trump has spent nearly a third of his presidency at his properties
 President Trump, vacationing at his exclusive Florida resort for the Christmas holiday, has spent nearly a third of his time in office at one of his properties, a report on Monday said. A review by the Wall Street Journal found that Trump has visited his properties 100 times, including spending 40 days at his golf resort in Bedminster, NJ, and 40 days at Mar-a-Lago, known as the “Winter White House.” He arrived at the luxury Palm Beach, Fla., resort on Friday and will remain there for 10 days. The report said other presidents often spent time away at homes they owned, like President George H.W. Bush in Kennebunk, Maine, or rented accommodations as President Obama did in Hawaii. Others spent weekends or vacations at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains. But Trump is unique in that he stays at places he owns but where others pay to stay, the report said, raising questions about the appearance of Trump promoting one of his properties from which he draws revenue. For example, Trump and members of his administration made a refueling stop in Hawaii on their way back to Washington, DC, after a 12-day swing through Asia last month. While there, the president visited the Trump International Hotel Waikiki, leading White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to proclaim it a “tremendously successful project.” “George W. Bush went to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, a lot, but it’s not like you could rent the bedroom next to his,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Wall Street Journal. The frequent trips to his properties comes with a sizable tab for taxpayers.It has cost the government $6 million this year for Trump’s air travel to Mar-a-Lago, according to a review of Air Force records. And that doesn’t include the additional expenses involved with Secret Service and Coast Guard security. By contrast, the report said Obama and his family spent $96 million on travel during his eight years in office, amounting to an average of about $1 million a month. Trump’s air travel cost to Florida alone has averaged about $1.5 million a month. During his presidential campaign, Trump often mocked Obama for the time he spent golfing while on vacation and said he would not be the kind of president who took vacations. “I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done,” Trump said in July 2015. But during his stays at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has spent about 20 days golfing at his courses in nearby Jupiter or West Palm Beach. On the weekends he stays at the White House, he has hit the links nearly two dozen times at his golf course in Potomac Falls, Va., the report said. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from the Wall Street Journal. |
