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Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.
By Britt Nelson
Every time President Donald Trump leaves the White House in Washington for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the mainstream media gets all fired up about the taxpayer expenses incurred by such trip.
Critics are right in that the official presidential retreat Camp David is being overlooked by this president. Located in the mountains of Maryland, north of Washington, near the town of Thurmont, not far from the Pennsylvania border, the retreat offers a secluded, high security facility for hosting foreign visitors in a tranquil environment.
The media critics along with New York City officials are also thumping on the additional double-coverage costs of protecting First Lady Melania Trump who still lives in New York City at Trump Tower while their son Barron, 11, finishes the school year.
The actual expenses incurred by tax payers are nowhere near what’s being reported by the media. The bloated figures are meant to criticize this president for his lavish life style. The majority of these expenses would be paid anyway because what’s involved here are expenses related to Air Force One (pilot, crew, staff, maintenance, fuel), the Secret Service and local law enforcement assigned to protect the president at Mar-A-Lago or other locations. They are all federal, state or local government employees who would be paid anyway regardless of where the president decides to go.
CNN even goes as far as claiming President Trump’s travel expenses in his first few months in office will soon surpass former President Obama’s total travel expenses for his eight years in office. CNN says according to Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog group, President Obama spent about $97 million tax dollars on personal trips and vacations to Aspen in Colorado, Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and Hawaii.
Billionaire President Trump has numerous homes including the opulent Mar-a-Lago and his Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey plus his golden penthouse in Trump Tower. In addition to the White House, these three locations apparently will be used by President Trump throughout his presidency.
Former presidents from Roosevelt through Obama have used Camp David, not their private residences, for public business. It’s a place with a long history of hosting presidents and their families along with foreign leaders. President Reagan used Camp David the most, visiting more than 150 times in eight years, while President Obama used it the least – with 39 recorded visits. President Trump has not used the “rustic” and rural Camp David even once, and is on record saying, “It’s nice, you’d like it. You know how long you’d like it? For about 30 minutes.”
According to Wikipedia, the facility of Camp David costs taxpayers about $8 million per year to maintain. Camp David is technically a military installation primarily staffed by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It is secluded in the mountain woods about 60 miles north of the White House complete with high-security facilities for Secret Service agents, along with heavily-armed Marines hidden throughout the property. The highest security known to mankind is already in place at Camp David, unlike President Trump’s homes outside of the White House. Point being, this beautiful, country-style facility away from the busy-ness of Washington is being wasted by President Trump, who apparently insists on using his own residences, his own security staff plus Secret Service to do his presidential business.
President Trump would be wise to open his eyes and use this unique facility as a tool instead of seeing Camp David as a place that is beneath him. Camp David is not Trump Tower or Mar-A-Lago or some fancy, exclusive golf club. It is a historical place where serious negotiations have taken place since the early 1940s between presidents and world leaders. It is a place where you can be informal, have a ‘down-to-earth’ cookout in the woods and look at the night stars without fear of being under the magnifying glass of the media. Not everyone is impressed by extreme wealth. As hard as President Trump ties to come across as a ‘regular guy’ that is hard to do from inside his marble and gold palaces.
Camp David is a place where history has been made, and it should be part of President Trump’s future, not neglected. The Secret Service should demand that President Trump use this facility just as sure as they and the American public insist that he and family live in the White House.
About the Author
Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.
Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.
