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Melania Trump
- First lady Melania Trump's flights during a three-month period in early 2017 cost more $676,000 dollars. These flights took place while Melania lived with her son Barron at Trump Tower in New York City before moving into the White House in June.
- The cost of these flights, which were conducted by the Air Force, cost about twice as much as former first lady Michelle Obama's annual private travel costs.
- On top of these flight expenses, Melania's security detail at Trump Tower cost between $127,000 and $146,000 a day.
During the three months in which first lady Melania Trump lived in New York City with her son Barron before moving into the White House with her husband, she took a total of 21 flights aboard Air Force jets at a total cost of $676,635, according to a military records request from The Wall Street Journal.
The first lady had decided to remain in Trump Tower in New York in order to take care of Barron while he finished the fifth grade, and only moved to Washington, DC in early June, after over four months living away from President Donald Trump.
Although the records request only covers three months of this period, Melania still racked up quite a tab, taking flights between New York, Washington, DC, and Palm Beach, Florida, where she would fly to spend downtime in Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.
While Melania was personally aboard only 21 flights between January and April, another 27 were taken by the Air Force in order to transport flight crews to and from her boarding destinations. The Air Force flights she took were based out of Joint Base Andrews, near Washington, DC, and had to fly back each time they transported the first lady anywhere on the eastern seaboard.
While none of these flights have been alleged to be improper, former first lady Michelle Obama spent on average $350,000 per year, according to The Journal - or about half of Melania's costs during the three month period in 2017 alone.
Aside from flights, security at Trump Tower cost the New York Police Department between $127,000 and $146,000 a day while Melania and Barron were staying there, and the Secret Service requested an additional $60 million to protect the president's family.