This past weekend, Donald Trump made his fifth trip to Mar-A-Lago, Florida since assuming the Office of the Presidency. Each trip costs tax payers an estimated $3.3 million. If President Trump is to continue traveling at this rate (five trips for every seven weeks), the annual cost will amount to $120.5 million. And by most accounts, that’s a very conservative number.
First Lady Melania Trump has chosen to remain in New York City until the couple’s son, Barron, is finished with school (though there’s no indication Melania and Barron will ever permanently movie into the White House). The security cost to protect Trump’s family in New York is estimated to be $1 million per day. Even if Melania and Barron move in to the White House beginning June 1st, tax payers are out $132 million.
Thus, the American public is on the hook for a minimum of $250 million so that Trump can go golfing in Florida and his wife Melania doesn’t have to live in a 225-year-old house built by slaves.
Meanwhile, the annual cost to fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is $148 million. The annual cost to fund the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is also $148 million. The annual cost to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is $445 million. On the non-arts front, $227 million is earmarked to “home-delivered nutrition services,” such as Meals on Wheels for Senior Citizens.
Last week, the Trump administration announced its intention to cut all of these programs as part of its proposed 2018 federal budget.
For more on the NEA and what exactly it does to benefit local communities, read Wren Graves’ new report.
