Taxpayer foots six-figure entertainment bill after President Donald Trump visit
Donald Trump’s visit to the UK left taxpayers with a six-figure bill for entertainment and hosting costs, it has been revealed.
The British taxpayer will foot a further £321,746 in costs related to the US president's four-day stay in the United Kingdom.
The majority of the costs are for venue and production, racking up a bill of £225,075.
A further £65,960 was spent on entertainment for Mr Trump and his delegation, the rest of money was spent on transport and staffing costsaccording to figures released the Foreign Office.
The newly-released figures bring the overall cost of the working trip to more than £14.5million.
The president was met with mass protests during the July visit, which in part led toincreased policing costs leading to the multi-million pound sum.
The full cost of the trip is nearly twice the cost of the King of Spain’s trip a year earlier, which was for the full pomp and grandeur of a state visit, while Mr Trump’s was billed as a working visit.
Mr Trump’s was the priciest diplomatic trip since the president of China’s state visit in 2015, which cost about £3,000 more.
The US leader’s was cheaper because there was no need for translators or accommodation, while he stayed at his ambassador’s residence and his own golf resort.
Figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws previously showed policing the property mogul’s visit cost £14,258,966.
Thousands of officers were drafted in from every force in Britain to secure the trip, which began when Air Force One touched down at Stansted Airport on July 12.
Theresa May hosted Mr Trump at her Chequers country retreat and at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
Blenheim was the setting for the black-tie dinner where it was disclosed in a firestorm of a newspaper interview that he had criticised Mrs May’s handling of Brexit and warned her plan could "kill" any UK-US trade deal.
Policing the visit cost so much in part because of the widespread protest against Mr Trump, which included thousands of people marching in London.
The Home Office reimbursed £7.9 million to cover the additional costs to the three forces in England which "hosted" the president – the Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police and Essex Police.
The Treasury was to refund Police Scotland, which spent £3.2 million while Mr Trump played golf at his Turnberry resort in Ayrshire on both days of the "private visit".