It's no secret that the Trump administration has been going through taxpayer money like drunk Republicans. Trump and friends have always lived a lavish lifestyle due to their own personal vast amounts of wealth, but now that they have taxpayer money to blow, they're not showing any inhibitions in burning through it.
It's been well-publicized that Trump spends an inordinate amount of time away from the White House, usually visiting one of his properties, especially at Mar-A-Lago. But the money he has spent on travel and security - just on himself alone - is mind-boggling:
Donald Trump’s trips to his luxury Florida resort have already cost the US taxpayer at least $24 million (£19.2 million) - roughly as much as Barack Obama spent on travel in the first two years of his presidency.
Mr Trump has spent seven weekends at Mar-a-Lago since taking office ten weeks ago. It is estimated that each of these trips costs at least $3 million (£2.4 million), covering the President’s extensive security detail.
In total, Mr Obama's travel bill over the eight years of his presidency came to $97 million (£78 million) - an average of $12.1 million (£9.7 million) a year.
President Trump almost matched this figure in his first month - spending $10 million (£8 million) on three golfing holidays.
The cost of travel and security for the entire Trump family is likely to be much higher, as the First Lady Melania and Mr Trump’s youngest son, Barron, are remaining in New York until at least September.
The New York Police Department has confirmed that it costs between $127,000 and $146,000 (£101,000 and £116,000) a day “to protect the First Lady and her son while they reside in Trump Tower".
Like I said, that cost is for Trump alone and none of the other members of his clan.
But there's more. There's always more.
Even his cabinet is racking up the bills. Education Privatizing Secretary Betsy DeVos is also burning money like there's no tomorrow:
The U.S Marshals Service is providing unprecedented protective detail to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and the added security will be costing her agency almost $1 million per month, the marshals service said Friday.
The stepped up security began in February, following a threat assessment ordered by the U.S. Attorney General, the marshals service said. The agency only said it determined a threat to her safety exists, and did not elaborate.
Under an agreement between the marshals service and the Department of Education, the education department will reimburse the marshals service $7.78 million for security for the nearly eight months from Feb. 13 through September, and the protection will continue for the next four years.
If the current reimbursement rate remains the same, that totals to around $1 million per month.
The US Marshall's Office reports that they don't recall ever having to provide security for an education secretary before and are not currently providing it for any other cabinet members.
Maybe, just maybe, if Trump and his crony cabinet were to actually do the right thing instead of acting like the arrogant, indifferent petty tyrants they are, they wouldn't need as much security.
As George Bernard Shaw said, “The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine.” I'd say that we should start calling Trump King Louis XVI, but he has hair more like Marie Antoinette.
