OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Vox recently talked to a series of CPAC attendees, many of whom continued to complain bitterly about Obama’s travel costs and downtime. Told that Donald Trump is actually spending more on travel and enjoying more downtime, conservatives were incredulous. The facts ‘can’t possibly be right,’ one said. ‘That absolutely can’t be right.’
Reality, however, is stubborn. Trump headlined a political fundraiser on Friday night, before heading to Mar-a-Lago, the for-profit club he still owns, for another relaxing weekend. Over the last five weekends, the president has visited his luxury resort four times – each trip costs American taxpayers about $3 million – and as of last night, Trump had spent 31% of his presidency at Mar-a-Lago. He’s now played golf eight times since taking office six weeks ago.
In October 2014, Trump whined via Twitter, ‘We pay for Obama’s travel so he can fundraise millions so Democrats can run on lies. Then we pay for his golf.’ A year later, as a presidential candidate, Trump declared that if he were in office, he’d dispense with breaks. ‘I’d want to stay in the White House and work my ass off,’ he told voters.
Like so many of his claims, Trump apparently didn’t mean a word of it. (Last week, the White House even gave the press misleading information about one the president’s golf outings.)”
– “Following Sessions’ Mar-a-Lago appearance, new ethics questions arise,” MSNBC, March 6, 2017, Steve Benen, 3/6/2017