The President

Trump Is Beating Obama In One Big Way

Trump is on pace to spend more on this in his first year than Obama did in all eight years.

Trump Is Beating Obama In One Big Way
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President Trump is on track to beat his predecessor in travel spending several times over. 

If Trump keeps up with his travel habits, he'll burn through more taxpayer money in his first year than Barack Obama did in all eight years he was in office. 

The numbers are a little tricky to pinpoint. To get an idea of how much Trump is spending on travel, CNN used available costs from a four-day trip Obama took to Florida in 2013 — $3.6 million

So far, Trump has spent six of his 12 weekends in office at Mar-a-Lago, for a total of 21 days. CNN estimates that has cost taxpayers more than $20 million. 

But the White House said some of those trips were for business. Trump did host Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during two of his visits. 

According to a conservative watchdog group, Obama spent almost $97 million on travel during his time in office — personal and work trips combined. 

This seems to be at odds with the Trump administration's overall goal to lower spending and cut out waste from the federal budget. 

White House Defends Trump's Golf Outings As Business Trips
White House Defends Trump's Golf Outings As Business Trips

White House Defends Trump's Golf Outings As Business Trips

Before becoming president, Donald Trump was a vocal critic of then-President Obama's visits to the golf course.

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But Trump won't be traveling back and forth to Florida for long — businesses were told not to expect the president's visits after May when the weather heats up. 

Instead, Trump might choose to shift his weekend getaway to his New York City Trump Tower, where his wife Melania and son have been living since the inauguration.