What security and taxpayer costs were associated with Trump’s stays at Mar-a-Lago (development of annual cost estimates)?
Executive summary
Four Mar‑a‑Lago trips in early 2017 cost the federal government roughly $13.6 million, or nearly $1 million per day according to a GAO accounting of specific agency expenditures [1] [2]. Estimating annual taxpayer burdens requires stitching together uneven federal, state and local invoices, Secret Service lodging and Coast Guard deployments, and therefore produces a plausible range—from tens of millions to well over $100 million—depending on which costs and how many visits are counted [3].
1. The hard GAO baseline: $13.6 million for four 2017 trips
The most concrete public audit is the Government Accountability Office review that found federal agencies incurred about $13.6 million in costs supporting four presidential trips to Mar‑a‑Lago between February and March 2017; the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security accounted for about $8.5 million and $5.1 million of that total, respectively [1]. The GAO framed those trips as costing “nearly $1 million a day,” a shorthand picked up widely in contemporaneous coverage [2].
2. The components: DOD, DHS/Secret Service, Coast Guard and Air Force One
The GAO breakdown shows major line items beyond just the Secret Service: DOD costs included aircraft, boats and equipment rentals while DHS (which houses the Secret Service) logged security, temporary duty and other expenses [1] [2]. Separate reporting has highlighted Coast Guard deployments to patrol waters off Palm Beach—past accounting focused on 16 visits that reportedly cost “nearly $20 million” just for the Coast Guard element [4] [5]. Air travel and related airfare and logistics have also been singled out: Newsweek calculated about $6.6 million in airfare for 2017 Mar‑a‑Lago travel in one estimate, not including protective details [6].
3. Local and state bills: overtime, sheriff’s deputies and county drains
Local governments have borne a significant share of the burden: county records showed local law‑enforcement and government security costs tied to Mar‑a‑Lago topped about $13 million for visits between late 2016 and early 2019, with federal reimbursements covering much but not all of that sum [7]. Palm Beach County sheriff’s office figures used in local reporting put per‑visit daily costs in the hundreds of thousands—one local outlet cited $240,000 per day for PBSO operations during presidential visits—underscoring how overtime, aviation and marine patrols add up [8].
4. Direct payments to Trump properties and Secret Service lodging
Government records examined by watchdog groups show the Secret Service spent funds at Trump‑owned properties—CREW reported roughly $1.75 million paid to Trump businesses in disclosed records and noted gaps suggesting more might exist [9]. Congressional estimates and proposed legislation have used figures such as $3.7 million per trip in rough security cost estimates for Palm Beach (text of an H.R. bill citing estimated per‑trip security cost) and have flagged nightly lodging rates the Secret Service paid at Trump properties in prior terms [10] [11].
5. From per‑trip math to annual ranges: plausible scenarios
There is no single, up‑to‑date public tally of all Mar‑a‑Lago–related expenditures in a given year, so two illustrative extrapolations show why estimates vary: using the GAO per‑trip average implied by the 2017 sample (~$3.4 million per trip) and multiplying by 10–20 annual trips yields roughly $34–$68 million annually in federal costs alone; using the higher per‑trip security figure cited in congressional text ($3.7 million) times 20 visits produces about $74 million, to which local bills, Coast Guard deployments and Secret Service payments to properties would add—pushing totals into the high tens to potentially triple‑digit millions depending on assumptions [1] [10] [7]. Other watchdog tallies and media estimates have produced figures ranging from millions for specific line items to multi‑million totals for coast guard or Secret Service spending alone, illustrating that estimates are sensitive to which categories are included [5] [9] [6].
6. Limitations, accountability and competing narratives
Public accounting is fragmented: procurement, DOD, DHS, Secret Service, Coast Guard, and local governments report on different schedules and levels of detail, and watchdogs rely on piecing together invoices and FOIA disclosures—so any annual estimate is inherently provisional [3]. Supporters argue presidential travel is necessary and comparable to historical precedent, while critics point to the frequency of visits to a privately owned club and the appearance of public funds flowing to a president’s businesses as problematic; both perspectives are visible in congressional and watchdog actions and in proposed restrictions on reimbursements [11] [5]. Absent a consolidated, annual public ledger, responsible estimates must state their assumptions and acknowledge that totals can vary dramatically based on what is counted.