4 Mar-a-Lago trips in 2017 cost taxpayers $14m

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's four trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in early 2017 cost taxpayers nearly $14 million, a watchdog report today said.

The Government Accountability Office said travel and accommodations, Secret Service expenses, deployment of bomb-sniffing dogs and other costs for the trips between Feb. 3 and March 5 in 2017 tallied to $13.6 million. About $60,000 of the tab went directly to Mar-a-Lago.

The GAO report provides one of the clearest pictures yet of the costs of the president's travel, and how much of that money goes back to his own properties.

The nonpartisan research group for Congress also found that Secret Service costs for three trips abroad by Trump's two adult sons and their spouses in early 2017 ran to $396,000.

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the trips to Mar-a-Lago themselves are the real problem, not just the direct spending there.

"President Trump's failure to divest from his properties has created a situation in which he benefits from government spending whenever he makes a promotional appearance at one of those properties," Bookbinder said in an emailed comment. "This is not a presidential vacation, but an official trip that provides invaluable free publicity to his business."

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.