Sunday, May 4, 2025
May 4, 2025: Trump golfed in Palm Beach, then flew Air Force One (Palm Beach→Andrews) & returned to DC. Total taxpayer outlay: $461,437—majority for off-site Secret Service & transit costs.
ACTIVITY BREAKDOWN
Motorcade transfers (Mar-a-Lago Golf Club Mar-a-Lago)
Four short motorcade trips in Palm Beach totaling 16 miles round-trip per press pool reports; based on Palm Beach law enforcement benchmarks. Two runs (HQ club, club HQ) at $5,000 each; double for heightened outing and event movement per GAO benchmarks.
Air Force One (Palm Beach Intl Joint Base Andrews)
1 flight leg from Palm Beach International (PBI) to Joint Base Andrews (ADW); estimated at 0.4 flight-hrs @ $177,843 per hour for VC-25A, consistent with prior West Palm Beach roundtrip calculations and GAO reports. No international support or C-32 tag-along/surcharge. One-way leg only; the president already at Mar-a-Lago that morning.
Secret Service & staff (peak off-site, Palm Beach)
All-day off-site security deployment at Mar-a-Lago and Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, including peak surge for 2 leisure locations and travel movement. $300,000/day benchmark, as documented in GAO-19-178 for Florida Trump trips. Secret Service cost covers both properties and logistics support, not including local police, which is separately itemized.
Secret Service on-site White House coverage (evening only)
Reduced overhead for partial-day on-site White House/Andrews evening post-flight return. Night shift presence only, prorated at ~1/3 of $75k on-site daily benchmark. Nominal, due to prevailing off-site commitments and minimal occupancy in DC on May 4.
Incidentals (capped at 15% of travel+security)
Covers overtime, staging, minor logistics up to cap (15% of aggregate direct travel/security per DoD and GAO-19-178). Compliant with daily non-itemized reporting cap.