FACT CHECK: Is Trump Spending More Taxpayer Dollars on Personal Travel than Obama Did?
tulc(wonders if this is also "fake news" since it's from Snopes?)The expenses incurred by United States presidents and their families on vacation trips and other travel away from the White House are an evergreen topic of partisan debate, given that much of those, including the requisite round-the-clock Secret Service protection and use of military aircraft for travel, are footed by the federal government. (By longstanding convention, even presidential vacation travel is categorized as “official business” for accounting purposes, since it is assumed, the Congressional Research Service tells us, that the president is always on duty.)
In that vein, an Internet meme loosed on social media nine months into Donald Trump’s presidency made the claim that taxpayer expenditures on vacations, golf, and personal security for the president, First Lady Melania Trump, and their youngest son Barron had thus far averaged more than $16 million per month, as compared to an average of about $1 million per month for travel by President Obama and immediate family during Obama’s entire eight years in office.