Trump’s $3.6 Million Ireland Detour Brings Taxpayer-Funded Golf Tab To $105.8 million
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to his Ireland golf resort Friday, in the process adding at least another $3.6 million to a taxpayer-funded golf tab that totals nearly $106 million in just 2 1/2 years.
Trump played golf Friday morning and possibly also played Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The White House press corps was not allowed on the property and was instead kept at a hotel in Limerick, more than an hour away from Trump’s resort in Doonbeg.
Trump also discussed his resort with Ireland’s minister for trade, employment and business upon his arrival at Shannon Airport, where he met Ireland’s prime minister. That 65-minute meeting was conducted at an airport lounge near the food court and the duty-free shopping because Trump did not want to travel to the nation’s capital, Dublin. It was the entirety of Trump’s official business in Ireland.
President Donald Trump's golf resort in Ireland began posting videos on social media of Trump playing golf and arriving there aboard Marine One within minutes of his departure Friday. (Photo: Twitter)
That meeting, in fact, was added well after the White House began planning for the visit to Doonbeg. The White House and the Irish prime minister’s office announced the meeting on May 21, but a team of White House, Secret Service and State Department officials visited Shannon and Doonbeg in late April.
The State Department began signing contracts for the trip on May 22. Among them: $1,023,940 to rent cars and limos; $10,866 to install temporary phone lines and $16,325 to rent golf carts for the Secret Service agents protecting Trump on the golf course.
In all, the department gave out $1.5 million in contracts for the Ireland detour, which was melded into Trump’s state visit to England and the ceremony in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of occupied France in World War II.
Trump claimed as he left the White House on Sunday: “Well, we’re going to be staying at Doonbeg, in Ireland because it’s convenient and it’s a great place. But it’s convenient.”
In fact, though, Trump was much closer to Paris and Normandy when he was staying in London for the first two nights of his trip. Staying in Doonbeg Wednesday night required a flight from England about 370 miles west to the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The Normandy visit on Thursday meant retracing most of those miles, flying 440 miles east, and then another 440 miles west to return to Ireland that afternoon.
With the additional travel costs of flying the planes that were used as Air Force One; the need to transport U.S. Marine Corps helicopters and presidential limousines to Ireland in addition to England and France; and the State Department expenses, the Ireland excursion cost taxpayers at least $3.6 million more than if Trump had stayed in London on Wednesday night and returned to Washington from France on Thursday, according to a HuffPost analysis.
That would bring the total for Trump’s golf vacations during his 2 1/2 years in office to $105.8 million.
Within minutes of Trump’s departure from the resort, meanwhile, Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg, began posting video of his arrival aboard Marine One and of him teeing off the first green in its promotional material ― but then removed them after HuffPost began making inquiries. Both were posted to YouTube, however, by the Democratic-aligned opposition research group American Bridge.
In one video showing the Atlantic Ocean in the background, Trump can be seen hitting a drive and is heard shouting, as his partners compliment him: “No mulligans! No mulligans.”
The White House declined to comment for this story.
The group that has been suing Trump for accepting payments from foreign governments ― a violation of the Constitution’s “emoluments clause” ― said Trump’s behavior in Ireland in not surprising.
“At this point, it appears that Donald Trump views his presidency as just another way to support his business,” said Jordan Libowitz of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “On an international trip at taxpayer expense, he stopped by to film a commercial for his Irish golf course, which is advertising the stop explicitly as one by the president of the United States. His own lawyers, in their ‘Conflict of Interest’ white paper, said this would not happen. But at this point, it’s clear all that matters to President Trump is what makes him money.”
Trump has now spent 181 days of his first 2 1/2 years in office on a golf course, all but two of which have been on his own properties. (He has played twice in Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.) Trump has been at his Florida courses near his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago, on 61 days; at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort 58 days; his course in Los Angeles one day; and on his course in Turnberry, Scotland, for two days last summer.
That count is more than twice the number of days former President Barack Obama had golfed at the same point in his presidency. And because Trump insists on playing on courses he owns, his dollar total is more than three times the $30 million Obama had spent by this point.
Each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs taxpayers $3.4 million and each Bedminster trip at least $1.2 million. Obama, except for two vacations per year, played almost all of his golf at military bases within a short drive of the White House. Those trips, like Trump’s to his course in Northern Virginia, cost taxpayers very little beyond gas for the motorcade vehicles and some overtime expenses.
Trump’s golfing trips outside the United States cost taxpayers a great deal more than his domestic golf vacations because of the enormous footprint generated by presidential foreign travel, with more agencies becoming involved. Dozens of White House staff members may travel with Trump during a weekend to Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster, but that number swells to several hundred on an overseas trip. The White House avoids lengthy motorcades on foreign soil, so Marine helicopters and V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft must be prepositioned using C-17 transports that cost $200,000 an hour to fly, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. A backup Air Force One is sent along as the support plane.
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Trump claimed as he left the White House on Sunday: “Well, we’re going to be staying at Doonbeg, in Ireland because it’s convenient and it’s a great place. But it’s convenient.”
It's 600 miles away. Not really convenient all except for the turd. It's our dime, what does he care?
So now the left suddenly cares about excessive president spending on personal travel and leisure? Of course they did with Bush as well; then conveniently took an 8 year hiatus for Obama.
Maybe it is about time Congress put some restrictions on travel for all Presidents? Of course then they would have to explain their own excessive personal travel expenses on the tax payer dime.
Politicians don't give a rats ass about US tax payers; doesn't matter if they have a R or D behind their names. Trump is the king of politicians it seems. Don't worry, I am sure the Dems can find someone to break his total amount spent.
So the right suddenly DOESN'T care about excessove golf and spending on personal travel? Add to that the daily whining about the debt...which suddenly stopped the second trump took office? Weird.
Where did I say I wasn't concerned about it? Unlike some I have been harsh on Presidential and Congressional excessive travel for a very long time.
I am also smart enough to realize that it is a partisan issue; and that outside of both sides complaining what the other does nothing will happen.
All that matters is we are divided; and that is exactly the way the Establishment wants it.
Fair enough, so allow me to rephrase...
The vast majority of the right wing complained about the debt....daily....when Obama was in office, now they are silent.
We keep forgetting that deficits don't matter, unless a Democrat is President.
Obama started out with a sky high deficit, but gradually got it down to 600 billion a year. Trump has driven it back up. In no way at all can we claim that trump and his reublican congress is, "fiscally responsible". The first column represents the fiscal year, followed by the deficit that year in billions. Next is the debt increase by fiscal year, followed by the deficit/GDP. Finally, the events affecting the deficit are cited.
Note, trump said that Obama had never achieved less than 3.4 deficit/GDP....yet another lie.
Trump has driven it back up
If Trump had done nothing but leave Obama's policies in place, the deficits would have returned to over a trillion dollars, per the CBO.
And what policies are those?
I probably shouldn't ask....
probably shouldn't ask
Why are you afraid of CBO budget projections and the laws of 2016?
Which is exactly what they are doing now. So are you saying that trump has done nothing with Obama's policies? We all know that isn't true.
We can play, "shoulda would coulda" all day long, but....lets stick with reality and not blame Obama for things that he didn't do, in an effort to protect trump.
Well, considering you didn't list these policies.
You want me to list every law that effected revenue and spending that was in force in 2016?
Are you going to spend the next few months reading the the US Code and the Code of Federal Regulations?
All you have to do is put up a link. I also don't count deregulation as a decrease in spending.
Unless you mean getting rid of people and departments.
All you have to do is put up a link up a link.
Have fun:
also don't count deregulation as a decrease in spending.
I have no idea what that means. I am talking about what the government actually spends as opposed to what it takes in in revenue.
Unless you mean getting rid of people and departmnets.
I'm talking about what the CBO projected in 2016, before Trump was elected, regarding what the deficits would be the for next decade. Those numbers were based on current laws remaining in place and would result in the deficit hitting a trillion dollars in 2022. In May 2019, after all the changes made to those laws under Trump, the CBO said budget deficits would return to a trillion dollars in 2022.
It's 2019. Any thoughts on that other than STILL blaming Obama almost 3 years after he has left office?
Trump will exceed $1 trillion THIS year, not 2022, as you claim. So in essence what you have done is prove that trumps policies are adding far more to the debt/deficit than he would have had he not changed Obama policies.
Thanks for that, Sean.
So in other words, the trump deregulations did nothing but help the business community bottom line.
Do you have any idea what's going on here?
Whoops!
o in essence what you have done is prove that trumps policies are adding far more to the debt/deficit than he would have had he not changed Obama policies.
No. Try and understand. The deficits would have continued to increase had Trump not changed Obama's policies, and would have reached $1 trillion a year in 2022, under Obama's policies. The same as they are projected to under Trump.
Thanks for that, Sean.
I'm glad I could correct your false beliefs and misstatements of fact.
But trump DID change the policies and will reach 1 trillion in 2019, not 2022. It's basic math Sean.
You say that like its a bad thing. Higher wages and a growing economy are good things in and of themselves, even if Trump hasn't been able to alter the structural deficit problem.
Deficits are increasing because entitlement and interest payments keep going up. The only was the deficit can be addressed is to start grappling with those issues.
Why do you keep saying that.
Per the CBO in May, 2019
We still call for reducing the debt by reducing SPENDING. Cut domestic spending by 60% or more.
It should be the priority of good govt to repeal the 16th amendment and end corporate and individual income taxes, and the Estate Tax. They violate the principles of liberty our nation was founded upon
We need to abolish the Depts of Education, Energy, Health & Human Services, Labor, OSHA, EPA, Transportation, phase out SS & Medicare, abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, abolish the FCC, FDA, FTC, NLRB, return student loan programs back to private lenders, end all Food Stamp programs, Federal welfare, Federal unemployment insurance payments, Obamacare, and a host of other unconstitutional programs. These are all unconstitutional programs that promote a socialist totalitarian state. We need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and take back control of our monetary system.
Taking some of the steps above would reduce our deficit to near zero and reduce the debt by trillions
We need to institute a national sales tax like the Fair Tax proposal, and renegotiate all of our Trade Agreements and associations allowing for a renewed system of tariffs.
We need to remove ourselves from the UN and ask them to relocate to another country, and then sell that high priced property for private development.
We need to sell off some of the 640 million acres of Federal Lands (28% of all land in the US). There are 10's of millions of acres of Federal lands that lie dormant and are not used for anything (I'm not referring to National Parks or Forests). In some states like Nevada, the US Govt is the largest landowner. Use that money to pay down our debt. Selling off this land would provide cash to the govt for debt reduction and would result in massive economic growth.
We need to sell the 10s of thousands of vacant Federal buildings that are costing taxpayers BILLIONS to maintain.
Government estimates suggest there may be 77,000 empty or underutilized buildings across the country. Taxpayers own them, and even vacant, they're expensive. The Office of Management and Budget says these buildings could be costing taxpayers $1.7 billion a year.
We can reduce defense spending by approx 15% through technological advancements and greater use of drones and special forces. This should also include removing the stupid ban on assassinations. While we have closed a number of bases in Europe, we could probably close the remaining bases in Germany without affecting national security.
You mean, "TRUMPS" CBO. You don't really think they are going to give out numbers that show trump is spending cash like it's going out of style do you?
But trump isn't doing that, he has INCREASED spending and lowered overall income of the federal government. Now what happens, Larry, if you increase spending and decrease your income? A 10 year old could figure that one out.
1) That's never going to happen.
2) So keep on spending and reduce even further the feds income? How in the hell do you propose to pay off the debt if you reduce the income of the debtor? You can't, what you are proposing literally makes NO sense at all.
Larry, I cannot even tell you how little that makes sense from even a family of four perspective.
First of all, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have ever tried to reduce spending. One reason I don’t belong to either party
secondly your data is wrong. BOTH revenues and spending are up
Spending on Entitlements and Defense lead the spending
i have long supported as I’ve stated to you previously, replacing the revenue from income taxes with the Fair Tax. Low to lower middle class families would no longer pay taxes including the payroll tax
So you are saying trump did not cut taxes, (mostly for the rich and corporations, I might add)?
Our government, love it or hate it, is funded by TAXES, reducing taxes doesn't mean the fed has more income.
Every time we’ve had a tax cut in this country, revenues have INCREASED
JFK on taxes
“In today’s economy, fiscal prudence and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarges the federal deficit – why reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”
“It is no contradiction – the most important single thing we can do to stimulate investment in today’s economy is to raise consumption by major reduction of individual income tax rates.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”
“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, message to Congress on tax reduction and reform, House Doc. 43, 88th Congress, 1st Session.
Hmm, I find that is not really true. Especially with Trump's cuts to the top.
That's because they have a million other ways to spend it...like new shoes for the baby
I'm with you on that. We have a huge deficit to worry about. Time to start tightening belts and let's start with travel
Agreed. Neither sides seems worried about the deficits/debt once they are in charge.
Agreed again. Take away all of the junket fact finding expeditions that are really vacations, or PR stop offs. I am even against candidates campaigning on the tax payer dime. With the millions that elected federal officials pull in from outside sources they should be able to pay for their own travel/expenses for campaigning.
As for Trump's excesses. He is supposedly rich enough he should at least foot the bill for his air travel and accommodations- when not on government business. That would still leave the taxpayer to foot the secret service travel and accommodations. I would hope that Trump at least lets the secret service stay for free at his resorts?
You're cute. Do you really think he would let hundred of thousand maybe millions of dollars get away?
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Secret Service paid Mar-a-Lago at least $63,000, documents show
The U.S. Secret Service paid tens of thousands of dollars to President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in the span of a few months, according to documents obtained by CNN.
The expense forms show that taxpayer dollars have flowed into Trump's private club as a result of his repeated visits to the so-called Winter White House, which pulls in millions a year from members who pay a premium for its oceanside amenities and bedroom suites.
Most of the $63,700 in payments from the Secret Service to Mar-a-Lago were made between February and April, and were categorized as hotel costs on government expense forms. The payments are detailed in forms and more than a dozen invoices on Mar-a-Lago letterhead ranging from $1,300 to $11,050.
The purposes of the expenses were not spelled out in the documents, which were redacted before CNN reviewed them. The redactions make it unclear whether there were additional payments to Mar-a-Lago.
Experts said the bills could be for rooms rented to agents, space leased for communications equipment or other purposes.
The payments to Mar-a-Lago are just a fraction of the total Secret Service costs detailed in the records CNN reviewed, which include bills from other hotels, car rental companies and event services in South Florida.
Related: Trump administration withholds almost all Mar-a-Lago visitor logs
Although the Secret Service routinely pays private businesses for costs that arise while protecting the president, government ethics hawks argue Trump may personally profit from his visits. Or worse, they allege, he's violated the Constitution.
The payments appear to overlap with some of Trump's weekend visits to the club in Palm Beach, Florida. After his inauguration, Trump spent a total of 25 full or partial days at the Mar-a-Lago between February 3 and April 16.
Trump transferred Mar-a-Lago and his other business holdings into a trust while he serves as president. But he refused to follow precedent by divesting his holdings, and he stands to accrue any business profits when he leaves office.
His financial disclosure forms for this year show that Mar-a-Lago made $37 million in revenue between January 2016 and April 2017. The club raised its membership initiation fee in January to $200,000, double what it was a year earlier.
Related: Trump reports hundreds of millions in income
While the Secret Service payments are a small share of the revenue, critics of the administration, along with prominent experts in government ethics, say Secret Service payments to Mar-A-Lago could violate a constitutional provision meant to prevent self-dealing and corruption.
The domestic emoluments clause bars the president from accepting gifts, or emoluments, other than his compensation from the federal, state, or local governments.
Whether the Mar-A-Lago charges amount to "gifts" is up for debate. It may rest on how much Secret Service paid for services or rooms at the resort. That information is redacted on the documents reviewed by CNN.
"The president risks violating the domestic emoluments clause if his company is making money off of the Secret Service," said Richard Painter, the former White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. "To avoid that, Mar-a-Lago should either charge Secret Service a rate federal employees are authorized to pay for a hotel room under ordinary circumstances or not charge at all."
But waiving all charges could create additional legal issues under rules that prohibit gifts to government agencies.
Earlier this year, a government transparency group called Property of the People obtained a receipt from the Coast Guard for a stay at Mar-a-Lago. That document revealed the government was billed the so-called rack rate -- an industry term that usually suggests the non-discounted price for a hotel room. That charge amounted to $1,092 for a two-night stay.
Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent who served in the Presidential Protection Division, pointed out that, putting ethics arguments aside, the president always requires some level of Secret Service protection.
Although some agents could stay at nearby hotels, he said at least some members of the detail must stay with the president day and night in the event of an emergency.
"The Secret Service will make every attempt to be financially cautious, but there is an operational necessity for particular people to stay in close proximaty to the president 24 hours a day," said Wackrow, a CNN law enforcement analyst. "And they can't sleep in the hallway."
He said additional charges to the Secret Service could arise from the need for storage space for communications equipment, or for additional workspace.
The Mar-a-Lago expenses, detailed in records released by the Secret Service after CNN submitted a Freedom of Information Act request, are not the first payments made by the Secret Service for the use of a property owned by a White House official.
Federal contracting data show the Secret Service has paid about $170,000 to rent former Vice President Joe Biden's property in Wilmington, Delaware since 2011.
Democrats have seized on other examples of government money flowing into Trump's businesses to support criticism that the president may be profiting personally from his office.
In August, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee requested documents from federal agencies that detail taxpayer money going to products or services "provided by businesses owned by or affiliated with the Trump Organization."
A spokesperson said the committee is in the process of collecting responses.
The Trump Organization and the White House did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.
Couldn't agree more. I have said for years that each candidate should have a budget, "X" number of dollars, no more, on campaigns. 40 million? 50? Just spit balling. That way, every candidate has an equal chance at winning based on what they say, not how many times they can invade my living room....
So now the right suddenly doesn't care about excessive president spending on personal travel and leisure? Of course they didn't with Bush as well; then conveniently spent 8 years of non-stop whining about it for Obama.
I never criticized any president for their vacations or golf including Obama. All presidents are on duty 24/7 and it’s stupid for right or left to make that criticism
Such a complete con job on the American people. Trump not only golfs and vacations more than any President in history but uses his office to promote his businesses for his own profit, then shoves every possible expense for his lavish elitist lifestyle off onto the American taxpayers.
True, trump and his crime family are the biggest welfare queens the US has ever seen.
Despite his pre-election hype, Trump’s piling on the debt as president
Over the past eight years, President Trump has floated no fewer than 14 proposals for reducing the national debt in interviews and speeches. (Video: JM Rieger/Photo: Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)
Over and over again, echoing the rest of his party, Donald Trump railed against the increasing federal debt during the administration of Barack Obama.
With debt hitting $21 trillion by the end of his presidency, Obama had “effectively bankrupted our country,” Trump tweeted a few months before he declared his own candidacy for Obama’s position. After the first Republican debate, he pointed to the debt and said America needed “someone like me to straighten it out.” Over the course of the campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized Obama for allowing the debt to hit $20 trillion.
In fact, it didn’t hit $20 trillion (or $21 trillion) under Obama. It hit those numbers under President Trump. And on Tuesday, the federal debt hit $22 trillion.
Compared to the first two years of Obama’s tenure as president, debt has grown more slowly under Trump. During Obama’s first two years, the debt grew from $10.6 trillion to $14.1 trillion; under Trump, it has grown from $19.9 trillion to $22 trillion.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
(There are two periods in Trump’s first two years where the debt didn’t grow because the federal debt ceiling hadn’t been lifted.)
In other words, the debt grew more than $3 trillion in Obama’s first two years and only about $2 trillion under Trump.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
The difference, of course, is that Obama took office as the country was battling the effects of a massive recession. The government began spending heavily before Obama took office in an effort to address that situation.
If we compare an equivalent period at the end of Obama’s presidency — the period, that is, that led into Trump’s presidency — the graph looks different. The change in the debt over the same number of days at the end of Obama’s administration was about a fourth of what Trump’s seen since.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
That’s raw dollars. If we look at the growth as a percent, the amount of growth relative to the existing debt, Trump only saw 1 percent growth over his first two years compared to Obama’s 3-plus. But the period leading up to Trump’s period saw much slower growth than that.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
This is, in part, why Trump’s own estimates of how the debt would end under Obama kept being revised downward from $21 trillion to $20 trillion: Growth in the debt slowed. On this chart of the debt’s growth relative to when George W. Bush took office, you can see that slowdown (and the spike before Obama took office). The dark-blue dashed line is steeper than the light-blue one.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
It took longer to get from $19 to $20 trillion than it had any increase since the Bush administration. But the two milestone increases that occurred under Trump — from $20 to $21 trillion and from $21 to $22 trillion — happened as fast or faster than many of the post-recession increases under Obama.
(Philip Bump/The Washington Post)
Earlier this month, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who also serves as director of the Office of Management and Budget, was asked why Trump wasn’t mentioning the increasing federal deficit in his State of the Union address.
“Nobody cares,” Mulvaney reportedly answered.
Well, Donald Trump circa 2016 did, for what it’s worth.
Your figures are wrong in your meme. Rump was never worth billions, NEVER. He always inflated his wealth.
PROVE IT!!!!!
1) It's capitalism, nothing wrong with making money, as long as it's legal. Trump has been sued for fraud, (which I believe is a crime), over 3,000 times.
2) Trump claimed his campaign was completely self funded because he was so rich...why then did he have, "donate here" buttons all over his campaign website?
Trumps says he is worth 10 billion dollars, why then would people living near the poverty level in the South donate money to his campaign?
P.T. Barnum was right.
All we have to do is look at his tax ret.......oh wait.
He filled out the required financial disclosures when he first ran.
Go take a look.
Or go ask the IRS if you could see his tax returns......oh wait!
Don't need to, I am talking about the constant river of shit that flows out of his cocksucker. He said he was self funded...was he? No. He lied, (again, or still, he lies so much it's hard to tell).
I stated before the election I hoped Trump would push the vacation/leisure time expenditures passed the breaking point for Congress to act; but it seems outside of the left making political hay over it after ignoring Obama's excess nothing more will be done.
Accountability in Washington is nil. The Dems are too focused on impeaching (or at least presenting their greatest slandering show on earth) Trump at all costs; another waste of taxpayer money since it stands no chance of making it through the Senate. They might have gotten some sympathy; but no one can forget their failure to impeach Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction- they didn't even bother denying he did it.
Besides, whatever limits they put on Trump, they would have to follow themselves. Neither side has the stomach to do that.
I am critical of any POTUS that spends too much time taking, "personal time". GWB took 1,100 vacation days in 8 years, for example. Obama averaged 29 days a year on vacation, (which, if I am completely honest, find difficult to believe but it's clear that he is on the lower end for taking personal time), for 8 years. All government employees, including the POTUS, get 30 days of vacation a year.
To be fair, Bill lied about a blowjob. Trump lied about accepting help from Russia to win an election, and he tried to stop an investigation several times...(per the Mueller report) Huge, HUGE difference.
Very true.
+1
Not true. During my 33 years as a DoD employee, I earned 8 hours of leave per pay period - 26 pay periods X 8 = 208 hours / 8 = (surprise) 26 days. I didn't gain the 8 hours per pay period until my 10th year. We were "allowed" to carry over 240 hours of leave at years end (if we were able to earn 240 hours) but had to exhaust those hours prior to the end of the next year.
Did a little research...we were both wrong. Presidents don't have a set number of vacation days they can take. But they do record days taken as vacation.
Here is a list that goes back to John Adams.
'He's either terrible at math, stupid or he lied'
All three.
I actuallt don't mind travel as itis part of the job, to go to other countries for state visits, etc.
What bothers me is his grown adult children going along and acting like royalty. Partying and promoting his business interest.
That is a first. I don't believe they were even invited.
America's crime family.
The only one that didn't go was the youngest, which is the only one I wouldn't have minded.
And supposedly they didn't like being asked questions about it so they ducked into a pub surrounded by security, which I guess we are paying for.
Like I said, I understand we have to pay for trump (shudder) but having to pay for his adult children is too much.
You noticed that too eh? Yea, every time he visits the Royals, he drags his crime family along so he can "look royal too", with his subjects swarming around him.