Trump once told a New Hampshire campaign rally: “I’d just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off and make great deals.”
He has also spent years slamming Obama on Twitter for the cost of his holidays.
Now, according to Associated Press, he will be retreating to his New Jersey golf club sometime in August. Though the White House clears out to some extent during recess, The Independent reports:
But Mr Trump has made a point of his aversion to holidays, even telling members of Congress they should stay in session until a health care bill is passed. At a New Hampshire campaign rally, he told his supporters he would rarely leave the Oval Office as president, saying: “I’d just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off and make great deals.”
He has also heavily criticised Mr Obama for his holidays, at one point claiming the former President’s trip to Spain cost taxpayers more than $476,000.
Mr Trump’s own holidays have cost almost $30m to date, according to a tally maintained by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. Even according to conservative estimates, each of Mr Trump’s trips to his South Florida estate costs about $1m. A recent ski trip taken by his daughter and son-in-law, both of whom are White House advisers, cost an estimated $65,000 – just in Secret Service fees.
Why this is particularly significant is that the hypocrisy is quite overt. He once told Larry King: “most of the people I know that are successful really don’t take vacations.” The sheer cost of Trump’s vacations and the burden his family connections are putting on taxpayers is phenomenal.
Things aren’t looking good for Trump as his approval ratings sink to record lows. What might make his plight more bearable is that a Democratic governor is switching to the Republicans. Although the context of this particular governor doesn’t make it massively surprising, the somewhat underwhelming performance of the Democrats (other than the stifling of legislation) post-election has been a problem. They need to win mid-terms and one off State elections, but so far they have missed the mark. CNN points to five stats that should worry the Democrats.