Melania Trump spent $174,000 for a day trip to meet Prince Harry in Toronto
Melania Trump racked up $174,000 at hotels in Toronto last year. She reportedly did not spend the night for the one-day trip.
The First Lady's six-figure hotel bill was revealed through government spending data and came to light late last week. The fees were incurred on September 23, 2017, over a period of 12 hours.
Details regarding where the money was disbursed were not given. But at least six different hotel charges were identified. They ranged from below $12,000 to almost $49,000.
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According to Quartz, Melania's press pool divulged her itinerary before she returned to the Andrews Air Force Base. From her arrival in Toronto at 12:09 p.m., the first lady made six hotel stops.
In between, she saw Prince Harry, met with Invictus athletes, gave a speech, and greeted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Three transportation charges cost $3,000, $5,000 and $13,000.
The Ritz-Carlton hotel has rooms starting at $679 CAD and going up to $8,000 CAD per night. While the Sheraton Centre Toronto hotel runs premium suites at $574 CAD per night. That does not include taxes.
Melania's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, spoke on the matter:
"What I can tell you is that when the President or First Lady travels, there are people who travel ahead on the advance team to ensure safety measures, medical care, communications, motorcade needs and logistics are all in place."
Yet records showed the charges came only from the hotels. Melania assuredly visited the Sheraton and the Ritz-Carlton. Meanwhile, her advance team's expenses reflected a cost of $18,000.
Grisham continued:
"Mrs. Trump travels with a much smaller contingent of staff than that of her predecessors, but the entities I mentioned above are legally required for all official travel."
In comparison, former first lady Michelle Obama dished out $18,320 over 10 days during a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009.
And in 2014, Obama plus her advance team, communication staff, and security altogether spent $220,000 for hotels in Chengdu, China over two days.
Last week, Melania said that she expects criticism from the public, but it was for a different reason.
The first lady regularly advocates against cyberbullying through her Be Best campaign. Yet it doesn't sit well with many due to her husband Donald Trump's behavior at times.
Melania addressed the backlash at a Family Online Safety Institute Conference:
"It is not news or surprising to me that critics and the media have chosen to ridicule me for speaking out on this issue, and that's OK."
Despite the list of names that her own husband has tagged onto others, Melania insisted she would "...remain committed to tackling this topic because it will provide a better world for our children."
She added:
"...and I hope that like I do, you will consider using their negative words as motivation to do all you can to bring awareness and understanding about responsible online behavior."
Back in November, the first lady received backlash for another large bill. At the time, the $95,000 she spent in Egypt over six hours seemed surprising.
But with these figures from last year coming to light, those expenses appear somewhat minuscule.
In Egypt, Melania spent time at the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel in Cairo where rooms start at $164 per night and go up to $699. Taxpayers may decide to keep a closer eye on the first lady's spending moving forward.