First lady Jill Biden’s recent jet-setting between Delaware and Paris could cost American taxpayers $345,000, with the Democratic National Committee only ponying up a small fraction of the total cost.
The First Lady made a show of being on-hand for her stepson Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware — but because the trial overlapped with President Joe Biden’s visit to Normandy, France, for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, she had to figure out a way to be in two places at once.
The solution involved several flights between Joint Base Andrews and Wilmington, and then Wilmington and Paris — so that she could attend Hunter’s trial, but also be on hand for official ceremonies and state visits with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron.
On Tuesday, that meant a flight from Joint Base Andrews to Wilmington — and later that night, a government plane to Paris for the D-Day ceremonies. After a full day in Normandy, another government plane waited to return her to Wilmington for Friday’s courtroom proceedings — after which she returned to Paris for an official state visit. She then returned home from France with the president aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
“In accordance with relevant regulations utilized across administrations, the government is reimbursed the value of a first-class fare for these flights to Wilmington and back to Paris,” Jill Biden’s office told the Daily Mail.
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Security concerns prevent the first lady from flying commercial — and they always travel with a full Secret Service detail — but when flying alone, they often fly in something smaller than Air Force One, like a Boeing C-32. According to the Air Force, the reimbursable rate for the C-32 is $13,816 per hour — and Jill Biden racked up three consecutive eight-hour flights.
By the Daily Mail’s calculations, each leg of the first lady’s trip could have cost upwards of $110,500 — and the total cost from start to finish was in the neighborhood of $345,000.
And while the DNC has stated that it will reimburse the White House for a portion of the expenses, how much has not yet been confirmed.
