Cost of protecting the Obama's

[GMDino]

Since no one else would just google it.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/02/22/trumps-family-trips-cost-taxpayers-nearly-as-much-in-a-month-as-obamas-cost-in-a-whole-year/#36e491d336e4

Quote:Trump's Family Trips Cost Taxpayers Nearly As Much In A Month As Obama's Cost In A Whole Year




Donald Trump's regular jaunts to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida appear to be costing taxpayers a small fortune. The president's three trips have probably cost the federal Treasury about $10 million, the Washington Post estimates, based on an October 2016 Government Accountability Office analysis of White House travel.


By comparison, Barack Obama's travel expenses averaged just $12.1 million during each year of his presidency. In total, Obama's eight year travel bill came to $97 million and unbelievably, Donald Trump is on pace to outspend him in less than one year. The Washington Post says "the elaborate lifestyle of America’s 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 previous presidents."


Before he became America's commander in chief, Trump frequently criticized Obama's travel expenses on Fox News and via his Twitter account.

Quote:
"President @BarackObama's vacation is costing taxpayers millions of dollars----Unbelievable!"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2012

Interestingly, in Trump's first formal interview after his election victory with CBS's 60 Minutes, he said, "I don't think we'll be very big on vacations, no." After a stressful start to his stint in the White House, however, Trump seems to have changed his mind.


*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)


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Now that is just travel.  And that article is from February.

Now security costs are harder to come by.

This article:  (which is saying the costs of protecting Melania for a year is more than the budget for the NEA is mostly false) does provide some number to go off of.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/feb/08/social-media/does-melania-trumps-security-detail-cost-more-fede/

Quote:During the transition period, the city took on most of the cost of protecting the Trumps in New York. A spokesperson for New York mayor Bill de Blasio told us Donald, Melania and Barron Trump ran up a $37 million bill for security from Election Day to the inauguration Jan. 20. (De Blasio has requested the federal government [url=https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/805882998373711872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]reimburse his city for security costs, and Congress has doled about $7 million.)


In comparison, the city of Chicago spent at least $2.2 million to protect Obama’s home in Chicago from his election in November 2008 to his inauguration in January 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported.

CBS’ New York affiliate reported, based on anonymous sources, that the city spends $500,000 a day to protect Trump Tower when the president is there, but less when it’s just Melania and Barron. That figure, de Blasio spokesperson Freddi Goldstein said, likely refers to the daily cost of security ($37 million divided by 74 days).

But the mayor’s office has yet to complete an estimate for the cost of the first lady and Barron’s security detail alone, and believes it’ll be less than $500,000 a day.

Goldstein told us even if the president were visiting New York, the price tag would likely be less today as much of the activity outside Trump Tower has dissipated since the first months of his election.

Some other numbers:

http://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-protecting-trump-secret-service-2017-2

Quote:The Post rounded up a handful of estimates of the costs of protecting the Trump family incurred by the US departments of defense and homeland security as well as local police agencies.


Here are a few:

• Three trips to Mar-a-Lago since Trump's inauguration may have cost about $10 million, based on a government report from October that analyzed White House travel, The Post said. The expenses include the cost of US Coast Guard patrol boats on the shoreline.
• Palm Beach County officials say they will request reimbursement of tens of thousands of dollars per day from the White House for their deputies who provided security and logistical support around the city.
• Police officials estimate that it would cost New York $500,000 a day, or $183 million a year, to guard Trump Tower, where first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump live.
• Secret Service and US embassy employees paid about $100,000 in hotel room bills during Eric Trump's trip to Uruguay, where he promoted a Trump-branded building.
• If the Pentagon secures rental space in Trump Tower — needed for when the president returns to New York — it could cost $1.5 million per year, according to the building's website.
• Secret Service paid $12,000 for tents, portable toilets, light towers, and golf carts during Trump's Super Bowl weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago.
  

But that of course includes when the President himself needs protection.

(btw, President Trump still employees a private bodyguard.  That's the guy he sent to give Comey the letter saying he was fired.)

DJT has more (ex) wives and more children.  So security is going to be more expensive for him too.  Even without weekly jaunts to his private clubs to unwind for the rigors of the job he didn't know would be so hard.

Lastly I wanted to share this story:

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/tom-fitton/482320688-amount-obama-family-cost-taxpayers-2015-hawaii-vacation

Quote:The costs of Obama’s luxury travel keep on adding up for overburdened taxpayers.  We have obtained records from the U.S. Secret Service revealing that its travel expenses for the First Family’s 2015 Hawaiian vacation cost taxpayers $1.2 million, which bring the total cost of the vacation trip to at least $4.8 million.


This was the Obamas’ eighth Hawaiian family vacation. The trip has become an annual event for the Obamas. To date, Obama’s and his family’s travel expenses total at least $85,029,819.

The records obtained by Judicial Watch for Obama’s Secret Service travel to Hawaii reveal the following expenses totaling
$1,234,316.67:

• Hotel and lodging costs totaled $1,000,458.63
• The Secret Service spent $165,893.88 on car rentals.
• Air and rail expenses totaled $67,964.16.
  

Although the vacation officially lasted from December 18, 2015, to January 3, 2016, the Secret Service rented several Kailua homes for 19 nights, starting from December 16. The total for the rentals, located near the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay was $245,993.12. 

According to bills obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Secret Service also paid for rooms at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club. The Secret Service also reserved rooms at the Moana Surfrider resort on Waikiki Beach, and the Ala Moana Hotel, which cost a total of $40,249.48 and $671,895.99, respectively.

The Secret Service rented cars from Avis, Alamo, and Hertz – 103 cars for the two-week vacation, totaling $165,893.88 in taxpayer money.

Reportedly, the Obamas stayed at the Hale Reena Estate, which “rents for anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 a night, depending on the season.”


According to other news sources, the Obamas dined out frequently (and were guarded) at Hawaii’s finest restaurants:

• On Sunday, December 20, the Obamas had dinner at Morimoto, a celebrity chef-owned Asian-fusion restaurant,
• On Christmas Eve, they dined at MW Restaurant in Honolulu,
• On December 27, the first family took their dinner at “one of Hawaii’s finest restaurants,” Hoku’s at the Kahala Hotel and Resort,
• The next day, the Obamas dined at Alan Wong’s with friends,
• And on New Year’s Day, the Obamas dined at Halekulani, billed as one of the “top restaurants on Oahu.”
  

The president played seven rounds of golf, went hiking and snorkeling.

We filed a FOIA request for these documents in January 2016. The records were released in response to a FOIA lawsuit filed on May 6, 2016, (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:16-cv-00863)). The lawsuit was filed after the Secret Service ignored a series of separate FOIA requests for costs associated with the president’s travel.

The Secret Service and the Air Force are being abused by unnecessary travel. “Unnecessary presidential travel for fundraising and luxury vacations on the taxpayers’ dime would be a good target for reform for the incoming Trump administration.

Let’s add that to the agenda for the first 100 days.  To that end, it was good to see President-elect Trump questioning the multi-billion dollar costs of the planned replacements for the current planes used as Air Force One. 

Is this it for Obama travel?  Nope. According to the White House, President Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 27, 2016. 

Tom Fitton is the President of Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption. Founded in 1994, Judicial Watch seeks to ensure government and judicial officials act ethically and do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American public.

A search for stories about Trump's costs turned up an article that says "well we're still paying for the Obamas".

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/judicial-watch-obama-travel-cost-taxpayers-nearly-100-million

Quote:"For eight long years, the Obamas spent our tax dollars for a lavish jet-setting lifestyle," said Judiciail Watch President Tom Fitton. "Many in the media would only focus on President Trump's travel, but Barack Obama continues to cost taxpayers with his luxury travel and we aim to get the facts."

And one article on Trump's actual costs (minus the words "luxury" "lavish" and "jet-setting") that still brought up Obama's.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/taxpayer-cost-trump-2-trips-mar-lago-1281420

Quote:For only two trips to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, which President Donald Trump calls his "winter White House," the cost to fly him there on Air Force One totaled $1,281,420, according to the government watchdog group Judicial Watch. The trips occurred on Feb. 3-6 and on March 3-6. 


Based on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of the Air Force, Judicial Watch confimed that the cost to operate Air Force One is $142,380 per hour, or about $2,400 per minute. These costs are carried by the U.S. Treasury, money from taxpayers. 


The Feb. 3-6 trip involved 4.7 hours of flight time, which totals to $669,186. The March 3-6 trip, with a stop in Orlando, involved 4.3 hours of flight time, for a total cost of $612,234.


The Secret Service has not responded or provided Judicial Watch with records on Trump's other Air force One trips or any of those involving members of his administration.


"We're pleased the Air Force finally gave us some numbers for President Trump's travel," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "We're preparing to go to court to get a full accounting of President Trump's controversial trips. Judicial Watch tracked some of the costs of President Obama's unnecessary travel and we're not closing up shop with a new administration."


Judicial Watch noted that "family travel" by President Obama between 2009 and 2016 totaled at least $96,938,882.51, paid for by U.S. taxpayers. 

I suppose as time goes on we will get more FOIA information on the actual costs of protecting the Trumps.  Also we will have to see when Melania moves into the WH how that will affect the total numbers.

[Dill]

(05-26-2017, 04:47 PM)GMDino Wrote: Quote:"For eight long years, the Obamas spent our tax dollars for a lavish jet-setting lifestyle," said Judiciail Watch President Tom Fitton. "Many in the media would only focus on President Trump's travel, but Barack Obama continues to cost taxpayers with his luxury travel and we aim to get the facts."

Number of vacation days and rounds of golf were also once firm evidence of Obama malfeasance.

[CageTheBengal]

You know this thread will be over-looked.

[Dill]

(05-30-2017, 11:34 AM)CageTheBengal Wrote:

You know this thread will be over-looked.

Perhaps. I am thankful for the reminder and the comparison, though.

[*michaelsean*]

(05-30-2017, 11:34 AM)CageTheBengal Wrote:

You know this thread will be over-looked.

Or I never cared.

[Griever]

(05-30-2017, 02:02 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Or I never cared.

yeah why bother holding trump to the same standard obama was held to

i guess it really was his skin color

obama could have said the sky was blue, and we'd have people calling him a liar

[CageTheBengal]

(05-30-2017, 02:02 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Or I never cared.

Why wouldn't you? Isn't Trump supposed to be saving the country money?

[*michaelsean*]

(05-30-2017, 02:48 PM)Griever Wrote: yeah why bother holding trump to the same standard obama was held to

i guess it really was his skin color

obama could have said the sky was blue, and we'd have people calling him a liar

You missed an option on your way to the race card.  I didn't care about either.  

[Millhouse]

Yeah not a fan of this, if those numbers are really that high. But another thing I dont like is the taxpayers flipping the bill for his wife & kid staying in NYC in the tower. I think if anything for good measure he should offer to pay quite a bit of that bill, otherwise enroll him in a local dc private school and they can stay in the WH together.

[*Nately120*]

Yeah, but this guy I know once told me he totally saw someone on welfare buying lobster with food stamps. Check mate.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(05-30-2017, 02:02 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Or I never cared.

(05-30-2017, 02:48 PM)Griever Wrote: yeah why bother holding trump to the same standard obama was held to

i guess it really was his skin color

obama could have said the sky was blue, and we'd have people calling him a liar

How did you take a comment about him not caring about Obama or Trump's vacations/cost and turn it into him being racist?

You really need to slow down on your outrage because you looked really bad here. I can guarantee you that you jumping to calling people racist is exactly the behavior that pushed quite a few people to vote for him, leading into this situation where we have a cartoon character for a President.

[BmorePat87]

I'm concerned about the cost for protecting his adult sons while they hop around the globe, furthering a business that their father has yet to prove he is uninvested from, especially since they active political strategists now too.

[NATI BENGALS]

(05-30-2017, 04:55 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: How did you take a comment about him not caring about Obama or Trump's vacations/cost and turn it into him being racist?

You really need to slow down on your outrage because you looked really bad here. I can guarantee you that you jumping to calling people racist is exactly the behavior that pushed quite a few people to vote for him, leading into this situation where we have a cartoon character for a President.

I never understood  that argument. I disagree with your opinion. So I am voting for a clown to run the show.? Makes zero sense to me.

And the same group voted for Trump because they were sick of the politically correct stuff. And now they get mad at comedians and celebrities for not being politically correct?

[ballsofsteel]

Good morning. I'll tell you what else is BS. When sitting presidents, and both sides do this, fly around the country attending fund raisers to endorse candidates in their party running for office.

[Vas Deferens]

Good morning BOS

[*michaelsean*]

(06-01-2017, 07:17 AM)ballsofsteel Wrote: Good morning. I'll tell you what else is BS. When sitting presidents, and both sides do this, fly around the country attending fund raisers to endorse candidates in their party running for office.

They usually work in some "official business" otherwise I guess the party has to pay some of it.  Think of how much money we saved when nobody wanted to be seen with W.

[CageTheBengal]

(06-01-2017, 07:17 AM)ballsofsteel Wrote: Good morning. I'll tell you what else is BS. When sitting presidents, and both sides do this, fly around the country attending fund raisers to endorse candidates in their party running for office.

Or holding rallies after they won the election as if they are still running for President.

That's for the good of the country though. Not to inflate Trumps brusied ego.

[GMDino]

(06-01-2017, 11:11 AM)michaelsean Wrote: They usually work in some "official business" otherwise I guess the party has to pay some of it.  Think of how much money we saved when nobody wanted to be seen with W.

I've got a couple friends that always make sure we talk about business at dinner so they can turn the bill in on their expense report.