President Trump’s visit to Honolulu in early November cost taxpayers nearly $141,000 for less than 24 hours in Hawaii, according to a news report.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that Trump’s Nov. 3 trip to the island cost at least $140,776. About $100,000 of that total was shouldered by the Honolulu Police Department.
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The city will not be reimbursed for Trump’s visit because the trip was not designated as a National Special Security Event by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to the newspaper. Trump stopped in Hawaii before heading abroad on his trip to Asia. He visited the Pearl Harbor memorial there and held meetings at the United States Pacific Command.
Other costs associated with the visit included nearly $15,000 in costs to the Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance, as well as $9,000 spent on traffic and crowd control devices such as concrete barriers.
Trump made a specific stop during his day in Hawaii at the Trump International Hotel Waikiki, where he and top aide Jared Kushner exited the motorcade without reporters to “say hello” and thank employees.
“The president stopped by the Trump Hotel on his way to the airport. It has been a tremendously successful project and he wanted to say hello and thank you to the employees for all their hard work,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the visit at the time.
Trump has come under fire for his high travel costs since taking office. In August, the Secret Service reported it was nearing the agency’s spending limit for protecting the first family due to Trump’s frequent weekend trips to his golf resort properties.
More than $6.6 million in taxpayer money has gone to protecting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since he took office in January, with each of his trips costing an estimated $1 million.