Trump’s weekend Mar-a-Lago vacation could cost taxpayers more than $3 million

It looks like we’re just going to have to get used to footing the bill for Trump’s weekend vacations to the “winter White House.”

According to Politico, Trump’s trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort this weekend could cost taxpayers more than $3 million.

The estimate comes from a previous cost report from the Government Accountability Office that Republican Sen. John Barrasso requested in light of one of President Obama’s 2013 trips from Chicago to Palm Beach.

Besides a pit stop in Chicago to give a speech on the economy and the middle class, the two trips are nearly identical.

The GAO report concluded that the trip cost the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, $3.6 million.

Ironically, Trump called Obama a “habitual vacationer” and was one of the biggest criticizers of Obama’s vacations, often tweeting about how “unbelievable” it was that the former president was taking time off.

Judicial Watch, the conservative nonprofit that tracked much of Obama’s travel, told Politico that it plans to file a Freedom of Information Act request on Monday to get a full account of Trump’s travel costs.

The trip will be half-business, half-pleasure for Trump. Politico reports that he will be meeting up with wife Melania at the resort, but also taking several business calls and meetings.

Presidents are often criticized for taking vacation days, even though Nancy Reagon once famously said that “Presidents don’t get vacations, they just get a change of scenery,” because of the nature of the job.

This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2017.