Since taking office less than two years ago, President Joe Biden has gone home to Delaware from the White House 57 times, costing taxpayers at least $11 million, according to a Fox News digital analysis.
The trips have required 101 flights on either Air Force One or Marine One plus security costs for the Secret Service.
The trips to his homes in Wilmington and Rehobeth Beach have covered all or part of 185 days of his presidency, around 30% of his time as president.
The $11 million number could be a significant underestimate since it does not include accommodations for those who must travel with him.
A concern
Biden also took another 16 flights to Delaware from various states where he conducted business, but those were probably shorter than flights back to D.C. and were not counted.
It has been a concern of some of Biden’s political opponents that he spends so much of his time in Delaware, but at this point the work of the presidency can be done from anywhere in the world that has phone and internet connectivity.
We all know that Biden’s diminished mental state requires a lot of rest periods anyway, and his work schedule has often been unclear to the public.
He recently skipped an important dinner at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia and didn’t give a reason for his absence.
It’s a pattern
It’s possible that Biden is only a fraction as expensive as previous presidents in his travel, since his homes are much closer to Washington, D.C.
Back in 2019, the Washington Post claimed that former President Donald Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago (only 19 of them) cost taxpayers $64 million.
And in 2017, Forbes reported that former President Barack Obama’s vacation trips cost taxpayers about $12 million for each year of his presidency.
As a taxpayer, I’m so glad that I get to forfeit family vacations and limit my own travel so I can pay for the president’s vacations, even though the last two presidents are more than capable of paying for their own at this point.
Presidents obviously need downtime, but the cost to taxpayers is exorbitant on top of a salary most of us won’t see in our lifetimes.