The Guardian on Trump's Davos visit expenses

[nitpicker]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2020/jan/22/davos-2020-mark-carney-prince-charles-climate-trade-trump-business-live?page=with:block-5e28091b8f0879d539efcb73#block-5e28091b8f0879d539efcb73

(snip)

1h ago
08:30

Visiting the World Economic Forum is notoriously expensive, with hotels in very short supply.

But even so, the cost of Donald Trump’s visit is eye-watering, at over $4m according to Quartz.

That includes more than $700,000 on car rentals (including $34,000 on vehicles for Ivanka Trump alone). No wonder the streets of Davos were chockablock last night, as the world’s wealthy and important were (slowly) chauffeured home (we walked, of course).

Quartz explains:

The expenditure is posted to a publicly-accessible federal database under the heading, “WEF2020 USSS MARVEL RENTAL OF VEHICLES,” using Ivanka’s Secret Service code name. All payments are being picked up by taxpayers through the State Department budget.

Additional rental car expenses in Davos include $736,000 by the White House travel office, and two more hotel bookings for the president’s entourage—one for $286,000, and one for $29,000—have now combined to make Team Trump’s two-day jaunt to Davos the priciest yet.

The total does not include security costs, salaries, or the estimated $2.2 million necessary to fly Air Force One round-trip between the US and Zurich and the Marine One helicopter flight from Zurich to Davos.

Updated at 8.31am GMT
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[democrank]

1. Easy answer....cut more food stamps, save more money.

Use that savings for Ivanka.

[Tanuki]

2. Considering the fact that each of his endless string of golf trips to Moscow-Lago costs $3.4 million

that's practically a bargain!


https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691684859/government-watchdog-trumps-trips-to-florida-costing-taxpayers-millions

[captain queeg]

3. A general question about these kinds of visits:

How does Marine One, the presidential helicopter get to the locality where it’s going to be used? Are there a bunch of them or is there only one and it gets transported in advance where it needs to go?

As an aside, the rethugs think nothing of screwing the taxpayer to provide themselves photo ops. I was just thinking of Bush arranging that “mission accomplished” flight to an aircraft carrier.

[nitpicker]

4. From Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX-1

(snip)
The V designates the aircraft as configured for use by VIPs. The Executive Flight Detachment is the only Marine Corps unit to operate these Sikorsky aircraft. The VH-3D is capable of transporting 14 passengers while the VH-60N seats 11. Both helicopters require a pilot, copilot, and crew chief, and the VH-60N's crew also includes a communications systems operator. Because the VH-60N folds easily for loading into an Air Force C-5 Galaxy or a C-17 Globemaster it is ideal for overseas assignments. The Marines can prepare a VH-60N for a C-5 load in less than two hours.[5]
(snip)

[Ilsa]

5. Marine One is transported in the belly of C-5 Galaxy or

C-17 Globemaster aircraft.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. As the poster above mentioned, they fly it over on an Air Force transport plane.

I did a thread a while back about Trumpy using the excuse that the weather wasn’t juuuust right to fly him to a war cemetery. I included some pics of them loading the Marine One helicopters;

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211415615


So it isn’t just flying AF1, its flying another C-17 or two to carry all the limousines and suburbans and helicopters, plus support personnel.

Their figure for costs is WAY low.

[arthritisR_US]

7. Right, and health care and living wages remain

debated issues 🤔

[UTUSN]

8. K&R

[moondust]

9. Unprecedented waste.

And it's not just the money. The world press has little choice but to waste everyone's time and energy following this lying, ignorant, self-serving clown with six bankruptcies around just in case he does something impulsive at any given moment that could spell disaster for millions.