2016 has marked a very interesting year for American politics and with 2016 coming to a close, we take some time to reflect on a very interesting an highly scrutinized aspect of the American Presidency: Family vacations. According to Judicial Watch, in the 8 year presidency term, the Obama family spent…wait for it…..$96,938,882.51!!! “The reports contains information regarding Obama’s Earth Day trip to the Florida Everglades, a political fundraising trip to San Diego, Michelle Obama’s annual Aspen ski trip, her trip to Morocco, a family vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, as well as Hillary’s ride with Obama on Air Force One to North Carolina.”

Some of the Obama family’s highest-priced trips over the 8-year span:

  • Secret Service records reveal that Barack Obama’s April 22, 2015, Earth Day trip to give a global warming speech in the Florida Everglades cost taxpayers $145,752.36, which brings the total cost of the trip to at least $1,012,367.76.
  • The Secret Service records for Obama’s October 2015 fundraising travel to San Diego reveal expenses totaling $180,187.09. Including the U.S. Air Force expenses, the total cost of Obama’s San Diego trip was at least $2,181,655.99.
  • Michelle Obama’s February 2016 ski trip to Aspen with her daughters cost taxpayers a total of $222,875.58. The Secret Service expenses were $165,806.78.  Judicial Watch previously obtained records from the Air Force revealing that Michelle Obama’s weekend trip to Aspen, Colorado, last year cost American taxpayers $57,068.80 in travel expenses alone for the 7.4-hour round-trip flight.
  • Judicial Watch obtained records from the U.S. Air Force and the Secret Service revealing that Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba and Argentina in March 2016 cost taxpayers $7,146,015.18 in Secret Service and Air Force travel expenses.

According to Fortune, “flying like the president doesn’t come cheap. Operating expenses total $206,337 for every hour the president’s plane is in the air. The average domestic round-trip airline fare in the U.S. is $361, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This means more than 571 plane tickets could be purchased for the price of operating Air Force One for an hour.”

Judicial Watch estimates that the final costs of Obama’s unnecessary vacation and political travel will well exceed $100 million. Wow…I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to run for President in 2020!