As Trump Heads To 17-Day Vacation, He Is On Pace To Outspend All 8 Years Of Obama’s Travel In Less Than A Year
As Donald Trump prepares to head out to a 17-day vacation at his posh New Jersey resort, he is now on pace to top the money Barack Obama spent on travel for the entire eight years in office — and Trump will do so before the end of his first year.
Trump has been drawing criticism for his plans to spend a more-than-two-week visit to his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump has already outpaced his predecessors in the number of vacation days taken at this point in their tenure, as he frequently made weekend jaunts to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and trips to his golf courses across the East Coast.
The visits come as Trump has failed to implement nearly any of his campaign goals, with the repeal and replacement of Obamacare failing, no plans to build the wall at the Mexican border, and his immigration rulings largely stopped by federal courts. And Trump himself was a frequent critic of Obama’s travel during his presidency, even declaring during the 2016 campaign that he would not be taking any vacations as president.
“I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done,” Trump told a reporter in 2015 (via Think Progress). “I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off… You don’t have time to take time off.”
But with Trump now headed to a 17-day vacation, he is actually on pace to outspend Obama’s entire eight-year term — and do it in less than a year. As the Independent noted back in April, Trump had spent in 10 weeks more than Obama did for travel during his first two years in office.
"1st vacation since inauguration" is a WH talking point. Let's just ignore the regular long weekends at his clubs. https://t.co/LFxUtxuZfz
— Ned Price (@nedprice) August 3, 2017
Donald Trump, who relentlessly attacked Obama's vacation habits, departs today on a 17-day vacation of his own https://t.co/dsVPffESTI pic.twitter.com/KISb43AMgo
— CNN (@CNN) August 4, 2017
“If the cost for Trump’s outings is figured in, it would appear the current president is on track to outpace Obama’s spending. The conservative leaning watchdog group Judicial Watch estimates that Obama spent close to $100 million on travel in his eight years as president. Working off FOIA requests that Judicial Watch also used, an Obama trip to Palm Beach cost around $3 million. Trump’s seven trips to Mar-a-Lago have cost taxpayers some $20 million so far — and that doesn’t include Trump’s trips to his other respective properties. Estimates of tax payer dollars spent on Trump’s golfing can range as high as $50 million, according to Trump Golf Count.”
While all presidents have spent time on vacation — some considerable, including George W. Bush’s long stretches on his Texas ranch which he turned into a de facto White House — Trump has been criticized particularly hard given his previous stance on Obama’s vacations.
As the Washington Post noted, after his New Jersey jaunt comes to an end, Donald Trump will have spent 53 days on vacation or at leisure, which includes golf trips to his golf clubs. Barack Obama did not take any vacation time until spending 15 days away at the end of August of his first year.
[Featured Image by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]
