Trump in 2016: ‘There’s no time for vacations — we’re not gonna be big on vacation’

As President Trump makes his 5th trip since his taking office to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this weekend, CBS News reports that taxpayers are footing the $3 million bill, which mostly covers the travel and security costs.

Multiple outlets have pointed out that if the $3 million estimate is true, Trump could have funded the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (budgeted at $4 million in 2016) for three years if he stayed home in the White House. According to CNN, Trump “has made visiting his Florida golf courses a near every-weekend habit in the first month of his administration, and his aides are trying to obscure whether Trump is actually golfing during the visits.”

From ThinkProgress:

Despite vowing during his campaign that he “would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done” and “would not be a president who took vacations” because “you don’t have time to take time off,” Trump has visited Trump-branded properties each of the past six weekends. That streak will hit seven when Trump lands at Mar-a-Lago later Friday.

In fact, Trump has spent time at Trump-branded property every weekend of his presidency other than the very first, when he created chaos throughout the country by signing a Muslim ban executive order that was later stayed by a federal court.

In light of Trump’s apparent constant need for R&R, a video from a 2016 campaign event in Virginia is getting some renewed attention. Appearing alongside New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the video, Trump slammed former President Obama for taking vacations during his presidency, saying that there’s “no time” for such a thing when there are so many urgent matters to tend to.

“There’s no time for vacations,” Trump said as Christie looked on. “We’re not gonna be big on vacation.”

“The White House is like this incredible place, it represents so much,” Trump continued. “And you’re there for a limited period of time — if you’re in the White House and you have so much work to do, why do you fly, why do you leave so much? Why? You know, you think you’d want to work, work, work — straighten it out, get it done, fix it up, make it great, and when you’re finished you can be proud. But boy are we a mess.”

Watch the video below:

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.