Barack Obama's Hawaii holiday 'costs at least £1 million'

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The calculation of Mr Obama's holiday costs included $63,000 for his wife's early flight out, and $16,800 to house Secret Service agents and Navy Seals in beach front accommodation for two weeks.

There will be a further hotel bill estimated at $134,400 for 24 White House staff staying in the Moana Hotel at a rate of $400 a day.

The estimate, by the Hawaii Reporter, also included $250,000 for local police overtime, $1 million for the president's own round trip flight to Hawaii on Air Force One, and $10,000 for a local ambulance to accompany the presidential motorcade.

Additional costs such as staff meals, renting cars for White House staff, and travel costs for Secret Service agents travelling ahead of the president were not included, meaning the bill will probably be even higher.

The paper suggested the costs could have been kept down. It said the president could have stayed at a military base instead of the luxury 7,000 sq ft villa he has rented for $3,500 a day which has been dubbed the "Winter White House." Mr Obama is paying the rental himself.

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• "They could have chosen a less expensive and more secure place to stay such as a beachfront home on the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station just a two-minute drive away from the where they are now," the newspaper said.

The White House has insisted the cost of Mr Obama's holidays are in line with those of previous presidents.

source:the telegraph