Spicer says Donald Trump's $3-million trips to Mar-a-Lago are "part of being president"

Impact

President Donald Trump has spent five of the nine weekends since becoming president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, costing taxpayers more than $3 million per trip, according to a Politico analysis.

But at Monday's news conference, White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed the millions of dollars Trump's vacations are costing taxpayers, saying that Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips are just "part of being president."

"Presidents always travel," Spicer said brusquely before brushing off a question about whether the money used for Trump's Mar-a-Lago trips could be better spent on programs such as Meals on Wheels, which would see a hefty cut in their federal funding under Trump's budget

"I think that is a vast reach to suggest," Spicer said. "I get that that's a cute program to point at, but it's false and misleading to make that narrative stick."