In addition to Air Force One costs and expenses for Secret Service and local law enforcement protection when President Donald Trump visits Palm Beach, the trips to Mar-a-Lago cost the U.S. Coast Guard $6.6 million, The Washington Post is reporting.
Coast Guard cutters, patrol boats, helicopters and anti-terror specialists were used to protect Mar-a-Lago, which fronts both the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean and has been dubbed “the Winter White House” by the president.
Flight restrictions when the president is visiting also took a toll on shark research, notes The Palm Beach Post 's Kimberly Miller.
Florida Atlantic University shark expert Stephen Kajiura said his aerial surveys of shark populations along the Atlantic coastline were interrupted when the president was in town.
“It’s absolutely unintended. They have no idea they are impacting research,” Kajiura said. “But who would have ever thought a president could accidentally impact data collection.”
Trump spent considerable time at Mar-a-Lago as president-elect, then made seven visits to the estate as president between February and April.
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