Donald Trump continues to be a one-of-a-kind president.
After changing the way that the executive branch communicates, by constantly fighting his battles via Twitter, Trump is now deciding to make a massive upgrade to Air Force One, and taxpayers are going to be stuck holding the bill.
The U.S. Air Force has approved a contract with Boeing to replace two of the five “cold chiller units” according to the Huffington Post. The total plan will cost taxpayers an estimated $23.6 million.
“Although serviced on a regular basis, reliability has decreased with failures increasing, especially in hot/humid environments,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in a statement to CNN. “The units are unable to effectively support mission requirements for food storage.”
While Stefanek is adamant that the refrigerators need replacing, they haven’t been updated since 1990 when the aircraft was introduced.
A plane that can store up to 3,000 meals according to Defense One, and yet the concern is that the refrigerators won’t be reliable enough in humid environments.
Why the sudden need to spend massive tax dollars on an upgrade that no other presidency has seen to be necessary?
Because President Trump is a whole new type of figure in the White House.
This is the same man who criticized President Obama for traveling to Hawaii on vacation and is on pace to become the most expensive first family in history, according to Newsweek.
Trump was quoted on the campaign trail in Iowa saying, “If you’re in the White House, who wants to take a vacation?” according to Newsweek. Yet he doubled President Obama’s annual travel cost in just his first 100 days as president.
Obama’s $12.1 million total pales in comparison to Trump’s $6.6 million that he cost taxpayers in airfare alone for trips to Mar-a-lago, his Florida resort, according to Newsweek. Trump’s excessive spending for vacations and golf trips fit right in with the decision to upgrade Air Force One.
With First Lady Melania Trump refusing to move to Washington D.C., simply adding Secret Service funding for security to the Trump Towers has cost $60 million.
Trump had been outspoken against Boeing’s plans for the presidential plane after first taking office, but clearly his view has changed.
Trump tweeted on Dec. 6, 2016, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!”
Yet, spending nearly $24 million on refrigerators isn’t out of control at all?
Americans shouldn’t be surprised. Whether you support Trump or not, it is hard to overlook his reckless spending habits and the cost it brings on American taxpayers.
And it’s not just the president who is spending uncontrollably. Eric Trump has spent over $97,000 on hotels in Uruguay and over $4029.85 on a limousine service in Dublin, according to Newsweek.
Ivanka Trump’s trip to Aspen cost the Secret Service $12,208 in ski equipment and clothing according to Newsweek.
These are just a few of the many travel costs by the first family over President Trump’s first year in office. During President Obama’s tenure taxpayers spent about $1 million a month for his traveling, Trump has cost them $1.5 million a month in airfare alone, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The Trump family’s frequent travel to international destinations purely to promote the Trump family business is burning through taxpayer dollars at an unprecedented rate and stretching the Secret Service increasingly thin,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, told CBS News.
Cummings is the ranking Democrat of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee which is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. They are expected to oversee the entire government, making it one of the most influential committees in Washington.
We elected him president, and now Trump and his family are able to use the American public’s hard earned money to take endless vacations. In his first year in office, Trump spent 40 days at his Palm Beach resort according to Newsweek.
Trump’s continued spending and vacationing are becoming more concerning considering he is supposed to be the “leader of the free world.”
Until something drastic changes, taxpayer money is going to keep finding its way into the pocket of the president for his next expenditure.