Trumps Took More Trips Last Fiscal Year That Required Secret Service Protection Than Obama Did in Seven

The Trump family took more trips in the last fiscal year that required protection from the Secret Service than the Obama family took in seven, according to a report from watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

“On average, Obama’s family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually,” CREW observes, citing a budget document from the Treasury Department.

“On average, Obama’s family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually,” CREW notes. “Much of the Trump family’s known travel has been to promote Trump Organization businesses, which President Trump still owns and profits from. Every President and his family deserve Secret Service protection. But the President’s private business should reimburse taxpayers for money spent at Trump’s businesses or in support of them.”

All in all, the data shows that former President Barack Obama and his family made about 4,700 trips from 2010 to 2016, with just over 1,000 of those being for the president’s family, excluding former First Lady Michelle. Comparatively, President Donald Trump and his family took 4,560 trips between 2017, 2018, and 2019, most of these within the last two years.

The Secret Service defines protected trips as “any instance that an individual protectee spends time within the jurisdiction of a single USSS field office, other than the protectee’s home district.” According to CREW: “Protective travel spiked massively in 2017 when Trump became president. In the last fiscal two years, the Trump family has taken 3,249 protected trips. In seven years, the Obama family took a total of 933. “

Alan Ryland

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.