President Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida on Air Force One to spend Easter weekend at Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday.
Ordinary folks can fly from the Washington, D.C., area to southeast Florida for $200-300 round-trip, if they book in advance. For the president, the trip is a little more costly.
Exactly how much is not currently public, though. The conservative group Judicial Watch, which has been tracking the cost of presidential travel for several years, estimates that President Trump’s frequent visits to his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago probably cost the government around $1 million each.
Much of the expense stems from Air Force One 747, which costs around $140,000 per flying hour right now, says Judicial Watch’s president, Tom Fitton. The trips typically incur other expenses as well, such as lodging and travel expenses for the Secret Service, and reimbursements for local police.
“It’s a snapshot cost, in the sense that there are other costs obviously involved that we could get, but the government just doesn’t want to give it to us or they keep secret for some reason,” Fitton says.
The Government Accountability Office has agreed to look into the costs and security concerns raised by Democratic lawmakers about the Florida trips.
Trump has so far appeared to set a record for weekend travel, regularly shuttling back and forth between Washington and Florida.
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