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Question: "President Obama, when he was in office, he spent $33,000 a day for his expenses. . . . Our president now, at this time, his average is $3 million a day."

Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla.: "It's costing him $60,000 a day when he comes down for extra care, but Palm Beach said they're going to put an extra tax for that. President Obama spent, what was it, $97 million in his eight years. . . . He went to Hawaii a lot. He went to Africa quite a bit. He went around the world. . . . He went to Africa, and he took their kids and friends and all that. Ninety-seven-million dollars in eight years, man."- Exchange during a town hall in Palatka, Fla., April 11, 2017

Question: "I heard you say earlier that you didn't care what Donald Trump did on the weekend and, frankly, neither do I. Except, he wants me to pay for it. . . . Does this concern you at all?"

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.: "I wasn't critical of the last president or the president before that, for what they do in their off time. . . . I'm not going to tell the president where he can or cannot spend his weekends."- Exchange during a town hall in Mesa, Ariz., April 13, 2017

"I do wish that he would spend more time in Washington, D.C. That's what we have the White House for."- Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, answer at town hall in Wall Lake, Iowa, April 18, 2017

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President Donald Trump's travels to his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida are a frequent topic at town halls hosted by members of Congress during the April recess. We've been asking readers to send us fact-checkable claims from their town halls, and some readers flagged claims about the cost of Trump's trips.

Flake and Ernst shared their opinions in response to constituents' questions. But Yoho's response involved claims that merit a fact check. Did Obama go to Africa "quite a bit" with his family and friends? How does the $97 million figure for Obama's travels compare with the $60,000-a-day figure for Trump's travels to Mar-a-Lago?

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Presidential travel costs are not readily made public, so at the moment we just have snapshots of the total price tag. As you can imagine, presidential trips require elaborate planning and security measures, and the main costs involve transportation and Secret Service detail.

There were a lot of numbers in the exchange between the constituent and Yoho, so we'll explain each of them.

Obama's $97 million over eight years: This is an estimate by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which tallied Secret Service and Air Force costs incurred during the former first family's personal travels. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the group tracked trips that were "political, leisurely or otherwise unnecessary," including vacations to Martha's Vineyard and travels during the 2016 campaign as Hillary Clinton's surrogates.

Obama's $33,000 per day: This is $97 million, divided by eight years, divided by 365 days.

Trump's $3 million per day: The constituent appears to be referring to a number floating on the Internet for Trump's cost per trip to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. The figure, $3.6 million to be exact, comes from an October 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report about Obama's February 2013 golf weekend to Palm Beach.

But as the Associated Press found, the trips are not directly comparable. Obama's February 2013 trip included a stop in Chicago, where he gave a speech before going to Florida for his golf weekend. That stop added costs to the total estimate.

Judicial Watch estimates Trump's Mar-a-Lago visits at closer to $1 million, when calculated just with the estimated costs for Air Force One and Secret Service. But there is no documented figure.

Trump's $60,000 per day: Yoho is describing how much it costs Palm Beach County every day to pay for local law enforcement to work overtime when Trump visits Mar-a-Lago. As Yoho says, the county wants to levy a special tax on the resort to pay for the overtime security costs.

That is only one piece of the total price of Trump's Mar-a-Lago visits, and it excludes Secret Service or Air Force costs. Moreover, some of Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago are "working" trips, where he conducts some official business, such as hosting foreign dignitaries at his golf club. That means they're not directly comparable to the purely leisurely trips tallied under Obama's $97 million.

Fitton said some Mar-a-Lago trips can be justified and wouldn't necessarily indicate a misuse or abuse of presidential travel.

"His [Obama's] vacations to Hawaii cost millions of dollars," Fitton said. "The political problem with President Trump, and the accountability problem, is after a period of time, the cost will be difficult for him to be able to defend. It doesn't help that we don't know what the [total] costs are because the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security [which oversees the Secret Service] haven't gotten their act together to turn them over to us."

The Washington Post reported that the unusually lavish lifestyle of Trump and his family is pushing the rate of his travel costs beyond his predecessors', and "could balloon into the hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of a four-year term."

Did Obama go to Africa "quite a bit" with his friends and family? Not really.

Obama took three trips to seven African countries. That's seven out of 58 countries he visited as president through both terms. President Bill Clinton visited 10 African countries, and George W. Bush visited 11. Bush visited once with his wife and two daughters, and another time just with his wife.

Obama took his wife and daughters on his 2013 trip to three African countries, at an estimated price tag of tens of millions of dollars - possibly the most expensive of his tenure. The federal government provided all the resources, because the options in developing areas did not meet White House standards, The Post reported. That made the trip particularly costly. Clinton and Bush made similarly resource-intensive trips.

Yoho's staff did not provide a response or comment, but we will update this fact check if we receive one.

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There was a lot of interest at recent town halls about Trump's travels to Mar-a-Lago, and how much they are costing taxpayers. Yoho, responding to a constituent with some inaccurate information, did not make an apples-to-apples comparison of Trump's and Obama's travels in the town hall. Yoho noted the daily cost of $60,000 for Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips, vs. Obama's $97 million in travel costs over eight years. But the $60,000 represents a fraction of the costs per trip; it's just the cost to the Palm Beach County government.

Some of Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips involve official work, whereas the Obama family trips counted in the $97 million figure are ones that a conservative group deemed "political, leisurely or otherwise unnecessary" to taxpayers. So the two figures are not directly comparable.

And while Obama's trips to Africa were costly (as were the Africa trips of Bush and Clinton), he didn't go "quite a bit" when you look at his Africa trips compared with the rest of his travels as president. We award Two Pinocchios to Yoho.

More here:
Fact Check: Are President Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago similar to Obama's travels? - Chicago Tribune

Now his secretary of state is, for the time being, certifying it.

"I've been doing deals for a long time, I've been making lots of wonderful deals -- great deals -- that's what I do. Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran. And I mean, never."

That much has remained the same. But when it comes to the Iran deal, Trump has, for the moment, changed. Blaring skepticism has given way to (yet another) pragmatic adjustment. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday delivered a letter to Congress confirming that Iran has kept up its end of the controversial bargain.

The letter pads what will be an unpopular conclusion among GOP hawks with word that Trump has ordered a review of plans to lift sanctions in accordance with the deal, citing the Iranian government's ties to assorted terror groups. To follow through on the implicit threat would, ironically, put the US in defiance of the terms of the agreement.

Which is to say, it's not happening. At least not yet. By fate or fancy, the Trump administration has effectively taken on the foreign policy of its predecessor. The missile attack on Syria -- a one-off tactical jab -- was initially celebrated (or denounced) as a departure from Obama's caution, but the reality is that American strategic positions in multiple foreign theaters remain essentially indistinguishable from a year ago.

Democrats will, of course, use this as another example of Trump betraying his campaign promises. That's fair enough. Candidates make outlandish claims at their own political peril. But the reality here is that reality, more than any president, rules. Who saw it coming? Former Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, kidnapped by Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, offered a pretty good preview.

If he hasn't yet learned that, then Trump has surely experienced it. Though largely true to his campaign pledges as a matter of effort, he has been repeatedly turned back by the same forces he vowed to tame. Obamacare remains, thanks to in the intransigence of his own party. NATO? "Obsolete" no more. Tax reform? That could be the most difficult feat of all.

President Trump's reversals

before becoming president

NATO

China

Attacking the Syrian government

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen

Executive orders

The unemployment rate

Presidential golf

The Export-Import Bank

Federal hiring freeze

His explanation was simple. Pyongyang and its nukes were the priority.

"What, am I going to start trade war with China in the middle of (Chinese President Xi Jinping) working on a bigger problem with North Korea?" Trump said during an interview with Fox News. "I'm dealing with China with great respect. I have great respect for him. We'll see what he can do. Maybe he won't be able to help. That's possible. I think he is trying. Maybe he won't be able to help. That's a whole different story."

And so it goes for the Iran deal. Is Trump going to begin unraveling the dense, multinational accord in the middle of a ramped-up war on ISIS and escalating tensions with Syria (plus Russia and Iran by proxy)?

Not yet. His tactical unpredictability, for now, only stretches so far. Through nearly 100 days in office, Trump's foreign policy has a familiar ring.

Excerpt from:
When it comes to Iran, Trump and Obama aren't yet looking much different - CNN

By Brian J. White and Jaclyn Reiss Globe Staff April 19, 2017

If President Trump didnt like those inauguration photos, just wait until he sees the ones from Wednesdays New England Patriots visit.

There were a lot of no-shows from the Patriots as the team met with Trump at the White House to honor their Super Bowl victory. Photos taken on Wednesday and in 2015, when the team visited President Obama after their previous championship, clearly show the impact of the absentees.

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The number of people standing behind the president is noticeably smaller in the 2017 photo about 50, compared with about 120 in 2015.

The New York Times first pointed out the comparison.

This year, several Patriots players said they would not be attending, some specifically citing Trumps comments and behavior as the reason why.

Tom Brady did not attend, saying in a statement Wednesday that he is attending to personal family matters. Trump did not mention Brady in his remarks.

On Wednesday, 34 Patriots players were in Washington for the ceremony Jabaal Sheard, James Develin, Julian Edelman, Jimmy Garoppolo, David Andrews, Marcus Cannon, Cameron Fleming, Stephen Gostkowski, Rob Gronkowski, Jacoby Brissett, Sebastian Vollmer, Chris Hogan, Nate Ebner, Malcolm Mitchell, Matt Lengel, Nate Solder, Glenn Gronkowski, Darius Kilgo, Justin Coleman, Rob Ninkovich, Joe Cardona, Trey Flowers, Brandon King, Kyle Van Noy, Jordan Richards, Matthew Slater, Eric Rowe, Geneo Grissom, Elandon Roberts, D.J. Foster, Shea McClellin, Joe Thuney, Ted Karras, and Jonathan Jones.

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Martellus Bennett, Chris Long, Devin McCourty, Donta Hightower, Alan Branch, and LeGarrette Blount were not at the ceremony,saying previouslythat they do not agree with either Trumps behavior or his policies.

Also not in the photo above are Brandon Bolden, Dion Lewis, James White, Danny Amendola, Michael Floyd, Vincent Valentine, Barkevious Mingo, Malcolm Butler, Patrick Chung, Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan, Cyrus Jones, Ryan Allen, Jonathan Freeny, Tre Jackson, Greg Scruggs, Chris Barker, Tyler Gaffney, Woodrow Hamilton, and Devin Lucien, according toa countby the Providence Journals Mark Daniels.

During the ceremony, Trump said seven wounded warriors had also joined in for the event.

No word yet on if White House press secretary Sean Spicer will arrange a news conference to dispute the number of Patriots at the ceremony.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File 2015

A look at the Patriots who visited the White House in 2015, when President Obama was in office.

Al Drago/New York Times

A look at the members of the New England Patriots who visited the White House and President Trump today.

Get Ground Game in your inbox:

Daily updates and analysis on national politics from James Pindell.

Rachel G. Bowers of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Continued here:
These photos show the Patriots' White House turnout for Trump vs. Obama - The Boston Globe

American Oversight, a group of Democratic lawyers, is suing the Justice Department and FBI over President Trump's tweeted allegation that he was wiretapped by then-President Barack Obama. Eric Thayer/Getty Images hide caption

American Oversight, a group of Democratic lawyers, is suing the Justice Department and FBI over President Trump's tweeted allegation that he was wiretapped by then-President Barack Obama.

Updated at 6:30 p.m. ET

A group of Democratic lawyers is suing the Justice Department and FBI over President Trump's tweeted allegation of wiretapping ordered by then-President Barack Obama.

American Oversight is demanding records that support or disprove Trump's March 4 tweet, "Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower."

Austin Evers, the group's director, told NPR, "We can get a straight, factual answer in the courts, by asking an unspinnable question: Do you have records to support the president's tweets?"

Besides the tweet, Trump has talked about the wiretap claim, while FBI Director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee in open session that his agency had "no information" about such alleged wiretaps. The lawsuit cites those public discussions to argue that the records are no longer classified.

American Oversight sued after the Justice Department rejected, and the FBI ignored, its Freedom of Information Act requests.

In a second case also filed Wednesday, American Oversight demands records in the evolving story of Russian interference in the presidential campaign. It seeks records on White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus' communications with the FBI regarding Russian contacts with Trump associates and the campaign.

And it seeks Attorney General Jeff Sessions' list of foreign contacts, which he would have filed before his Senate confirmation hearing. That was the hearing where Sessions failed to recall meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. The lawsuit says the list "would address a significant question regarding the integrity of a senior government official."

Asked for comment about either lawsuit, the White House referred NPR to the Justice Department.

Organized this winter, American Oversight is a group of former Obama administration lawyers that is using FOIA to monitor the performance and conduct of Trump administration agencies. Wednesday's lawsuits are the first, but Evers said more than 100 FOIA requests have been submitted.

View post:
Trump's Wiretap Tweets Bring Lawsuit Seeking Proof - NPR

If you thought Hillary Clintons handling of her email fiasco was puzzling, youre not alone. Even President Obama was befuddled by the way his former adversary handled the situation, noting that it reminded him of how he beat her in the 2008 primaries. In the new book by The Hills Amie Parnes and Sidewires Jonathan Allen, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Campaign, released today details what should have been a winnable election for the career politician thatturned into an abject nightmare over largely avoidablemistakes.

For starters, the book details how Obama was at a loss for why Clinton, who had been his secretary of state, would set up what turned out to be an unauthorized and unsecure server to conduct all of her official business. It was a breach of government protocol concerning the collection and preservation of all electronic communications. Moreover, it did present a possible national security risk that drew the attention of the FBI. The second thing that perplexed him was how she handled it(via The Hill):

Clinton's actions, according to Parnes and Allen, reminded Obama of some of the qualities that helped him win the Democratic primary in 2008. The book also includes an anecdote from July 2016 when Clinton and Obama traveled aboard Air Force One to their first joint campaign rally. FBI Director James Comey said on the same day as the event that he would not recommend charges against Clinton over her use of the private server.

Despite what Clintonites might think, this was a story. A presidential candidate, and member of one of the most successful and ruthless political machines, might have compromised national security and mishandled classified information with this homebrew server. Ensuring that the opposite occurs while in office is at the core of the presidential oath. The Clintons didnt seem to care, nor were they going to admit that they did something wrong (via USA Today):

You know who did care? Voters. Young people flocked to her primary opponent Bernie Sanders in droves and her appalling deficit on trust and honesty because of this email fiasco killed her on character issues. The damage was irreparable. No one really found her likable, relatable, or authentic. She had no economic message. Her campaign shunned white working class voters, who turned out for Donald Trump en masse. She may have had a resume, but Hillary Clinton as president was never going to happen. Still, political introspection eludes Clinton.

The former first lady and now two-time presidential loser attended the liberal Women in the World Summit earlier this month, where she says that misogyny, Russia, FBI Director James Comey, and Wikileaks were the top four reasons for her defeat. CNN commentator Kirsten Powers aptly noted that something is missing here: Hillary Clinton. She was the top of the ticket, though she bore no responsibility for the most shocking loss in American political history? Powers mentioned how this isnt helpful in moving on from this stinging defeat.

Well, Russias impact on the election through propaganda through state-funded media and the deployment of social media trolls wasnt really a factor in tilting the election. The emergence of fake news also didnt play a pivotal role; Facebook also said that these stories didnt sway the election. Regarding FBI Director Comey, he wanted to detail the level of Russian interference in an op-ed last summer, the Obama White House stopped him. Moreover, the FBI was only involved because Clinton engaged in setting up a private email system for official use that (again) befuddled key members of the party, like the leader of the DemocratsPresident Obama. Misogyny was really not at issue since 52 percent of white women (and 62 percent of white working class women) voted for Trump. Yes, liberals learned the hard way your race, gender, ethnicity, or religion does not peg you to a certain political ideology or party. The notion of a womens voting bloc voting in unison, especially when a woman is on a major ticket, proved to be a myth. The Democratic National Security server hacks could have been mitigated if they had better security measures, like the ones installed at the Republican National Committee. As for Podesta, wellyou can blame an IT staffers typo in an email for opening the floodgates on that treasure trove. Still, there were other campaign decisions from Clinton and her staff that helped kill her presidential hopes (via NYT):

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Shattered underscores Clintons difficulty in articulating a rationale for her campaign (other than that she was not Donald Trump). And it suggests that a tendency to value loyalty over competence resulted in a lumbering, bureaucratic operation in which staff members were reluctant to speak truth to power, and competing tribes sowed confusion, angst and infighting.

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Despite years of post-mortems, the authors observe, Clintons management style hadnt really changed since her 2008 loss of the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama: Her teams convoluted power structure encouraged the denizens of Hillaryland to care more about their standing with her, or their future job opportunities, than getting her elected.

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As described in Shattered, Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook who centered the Clinton operation on data analytics (information about voters, given to him by number crunchers) as opposed to more old-fashioned methods of polling, knocking on doors and trying to persuade undecideds made one strategic mistake after another, but was kept on by Clinton, despite her own misgivings.

Mook had made the near-fatal mistakes of underestimating Sanders and investing almost nothing early in the back end of the primary calendar, Parnes and Allen write, and the campaign seemed to learn little from Clintons early struggles. For instance, her loss in the Michigan primary in March highlighted the problems that would pursue her in the general election populism was on the rise in the Rust Belt, and she was not connecting with working-class white voters and yet it resulted in few palpable adjustments.

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In chronicling these missteps, Shattered creates a picture of a shockingly inept campaign hobbled by hubris and unforced errors, and haunted by a sense of self-pity and doom, summed up in one Clinton aides mantra throughout the campaign: Were not allowed to have nice things.

The email is one of the many parts of the iceberg that sunk the Clinton ship, withits public disclosure and the botched handling of it (remember the cloth remark?)prompting the former first lady toeventually go dark on press conference for almost a year, proved to be a harbinger of things to come. The lack of reaching out to white working class voters, which often causes consternation among the more progressive and diversity-obsessed members of the Left, was on the minds of some staffers and nothing changed. Its a major tweak that could have tilted the election. Trump won these folks by a three-to-one margin, if it were two-to-one2016 might have ended differently. Still, the data showed that the Democratic base was large enough to shun these voters, who number in the tens of millions. In all, some members of Team Clinton saw the torpedo coming at them, they tried to warn upper management, and their decision was to go full steam ahead into it. The handling of the email server proved to be emblematic of how this campaign was runright into the ground.

Last Note: Let's not forget thatObama hademailed Clinton using a pseudonym dating back to 2012. The Obama White House said theyknew of Clinton's private server, and that the president did correspond with her on that address,but added that henever knew it was used for official use.In 2015, the yearThe New York Timesfirst reported on the server,Obama said hefound that out about the arrangement in the news. So, what was with the pseudonym, then?

Read this article:
'Political Malpractice': Obama Couldn't Understand Clinton's Handling Of Her Email Fiasco - Townhall