Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago cost US taxpayers $14m during his first three months in office

The report comes as questions have been raised about the president's use of 'executive time' in office

Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Florida (AP / Carolyn Kaster )

Trips taken by Donald Trump to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida during the first three months of his time as president cost US taxpayers $14m, according to a new report.

The report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysed Mr Trump’s travel and security costs for four trips he took to the Florida resort, which has been dubbed the “winter White House” because he has frequented the location so often during the colder months of the year.

All told, the trips cost $10.6m for the use of government vehicles, and another $3m that was spent on rooms and other costs for administration workers who joined the president on the trips.

While the White House has not commented on this latest report and the government costs detailed inside, the West Wing has justified the president’s expenses in the past by claiming that Mr Trump continues to work regardless of where he is.

The cost of Mr Trump’s travels to Mar-a-Lago have been particularly contentious, as they require considerable security preparations including deploying the US Coast Guard into the Atlantic ocean near his resort.

A previous report released last year looking at the cost of deploying the Coast Guard to protect Mr Trump while at Mar-a-Lago found that it has cost more than $20m.

The new GAO report comes as questions have swirled around the president’s workload after nearly three month’s worth of his private schedules were leaked to the press and showed he spent around 60 per cent of his time in the months following last year’s midterms in unstructured “executive time”.