‘Furious’ Melania Trump’s Escape to Mar-a-Lago Spa Cost Taxpayers $64,000: Report
January 30, 2018Melania Trump‘s R&R retreat to Mar-a-Lago, following revelations of her husband Donald Trump’s affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, reportedly cost taxpayers a pretty penny.
Instead of releasing a statement about the allegation against the president, Mrs. Trump, 47, retired to the spa at the first couple’s Florida resort estate on Friday, reportedly “furious” about how he allegedly paid off Daniels to keep quiet, according to the New York Times.
Described as “a tranquil haven offering an ideal relief from the every day” on its website, the members-only Trump Spa features pampering amenities such as pedicure rooms and makeup and hair stations that are all surrounded by marble.
In fact, every time the first lady flies from Joint Base Andrews to Palm Beach International Airport on a C-32A plane it costs taxpayers an estimated $16,168 per hour, according to the Department of Defense as reported by the Times. The first lady’s four-hour roundtrip flight to Mar-a-Lago totaled approximately $64,600.
That same week, it was revealed that the upgrade of Air Force One’s two refrigerators cost taxpayers $23.7 million, according to Fortune.
First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump in January 2017
MOLLY RILEY/AFP/Getty
Her Mar-a-Lago escape comes on the heels of The Wall Street Journal‘s story that Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election to bar her from talking about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
The White House and Cohen have denied the allegation of an affair, but would not answer questions from the WSJ about an agreement with her, according to the newspaper.
Last week, the first lady abruptly canceled a planned trip to Davos, Switzerland, with Trump amid the allegations.
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Mrs. Trump’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, tweeted a statement on behalf of the first lady.
“The laundry list of salacious & flat-out false reporting about Mrs. Trump by tabloid publications & TV shows has seeped into ‘mainstream media’ reporting. She is focused on her family & role as FLOTUS – not the unrealistic scenarios being peddled daily by the fake news,” Grisham wrote on Twitter Friday.
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels
REX/Shutterstock; Ethan Miller/Getty
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The mother of one returned to the nation’s capital, in time for her husband’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, which she is confirmed to attend.
During Monday’s briefing, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the first lady’s attendance and added that all of the president’s children would also be there, with the exception of 11-year-old son, Barron.
Earlier this month, author Michael Wolff of the bestselling Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, hinted to Bill Maher that Trump remains unfaithful to his wife, and is currently having an affair inside the White House.
Mrs. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago trip further stirred speculation about a possible rift between the first couple.
White House representatives did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.