President Trump continues to spend taxpayer money like Veruca Salt let loose in Dylan’s Candy Shop. Federal records show that he has spent $133,000 on White House furnishings since January — more than twice the amount spent by President Barack Obama in the same time period.
Mic reports that Obama spent $52,204 at this point in his presidency, according to federal procurement records from the Executive Office of the President.
A few examples of where the money has gone:
— Gold drapes and gold upholstery for Oval Office chairs, which Trump had immediately changed from Obama’s blue upon taking office.
— A custom conference table by Kittinger & Co. that cost $13,000. (Mic notes that President Nixon also ordered a conference table by the storied company but paid for it himself.)
— Ivanka’s office, which has been painted “white with metallic accents.”
— CNN reported that first lady Melania Trump had hired a decorator to spruce up the first family’s living quarters. Traditionally $100,000 is allotted, but the Obamas spent their own money on it.
This comes after reports that the president, who as a private citizen criticized Obama’s spending on travel, is on track to spend more on trips in his first year than Obama did in eight. Trump also excoriated Obama for golfing, claiming they “extravagantly spend on the taxpayers’ dime”; Trump has taken 19 golf outings at this point, compared to Obama’s one. The trips have cost taxpayers $21 million through April, Vanity Fair reported.
Why did @BarackObama and his family travel separately to Martha’s Vineyard? They love to extravagantly spend on the taxpayers’ dime.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2011
Taxpayers also footed the bill for Melania Trump and son Barron to live in Trump Tower from inauguration through this month — which cost the New York City police department $24 million in the two-and-a-half months from Election Day through inauguration alone. (That works out to nearly $72 million from Nov. 8 through June.)
The president’s lifestyle is on track to cost taxpayers $1 billion in his first year in office, Vanity Fair reports.
