Michelle Obama Travel Expenses For 2015 Cost Taxpayers A Fortune: See What The Numbers Tally Up To
Michelle Obama travels a lot in her role as the first lady. It’s not exactly a secret that presidents and their families often take elaborate trips on the taxpayers’ dime.
According to Judicial Watch, Michelle Obama’s travel expenses for 2015 have added up quite substantially. The source documented air travel alone in their data from the U.S. Department of the Air Force. The first lady’s trip to the United Kingdom and Italy in June of this year cost $240,495.67 in flight expenses. Her daughters and mother were included in the calculations.
Newsmax reports that the records were released after Freedom of Information (FOIA) requested on June 22, 2015. The flights to London, England, as well as Milan, Venice, and Vicenza, Italy trips, amounted to 20:35 hours at a cost of $11,684 per hour — which rang up a grand total of $240,495.67, Air Force documents reveal. The dates for these Michelle Obama travel expenses were for June 15 through 21.
In an article written by the Washington Free Beacon, it was reported back in June that hotel costs for First Lady Obama were $128,781 to see cultural sites in Venice during the last part of her trip abroad.
Michelle Obama went to London and Italy for her Let Girls Learn initiative and the anti-obesity campaign Let’s Move. During the trip, she cooked with children, visited U.S. service members stationed in Italy, and visited Prince Harry at Kensington Palace for tea.
Although the trips were meant primarily for the first lady’s initiatives, it was apparent that a lot of leisure and sightseeing was also on the agenda, according to the reports.
As Newsmax adds in its report, requests for additional Michelle Obama travel expenses have yet to be revealed, including secret service detail, accommodations, personnel, rental cars, meals, and other costs.
Judicial Watch released numbers from a 2014 trip that the first lady took from the U.S. to China. Taxpayers footed a $362,523.53 bill in travel expenditures. Michelle, her daughters, and her mother were in the nation from March 19 through March 26 in China. The family also extended their stay and visited popular tourists sites in the region.
In 2013, the Obamas’ travel expenses to Africa and Honolulu cost taxpayers $15,885,585.30 in just flight expenses. One of the most extravagant expenses for Michelle Obama was when she and her entourage booked 30 rooms at the five-star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. The first lady stayed in the Princess Grace suite, which cost $3,500 a night.
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