How much will US taxpayers be paying for Vice-President Mike Pence’s stay at Trump’s luxury Irish golf resort?
US president suggested the VP’s controversial visit to Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg. It wasn’t a ‘you must’ trip, Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, says
US Vice-President Mike Pence found himself in the rough on Monday after criticism broke out over the ethics of his visit to US President Donald Trump's Irish golf resort.
As part of his trip to meet Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach (prime minister) of the Republic of Ireland, Pence and his entourage lodged at the country’s Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg, in County Clare.
US Vice-President Mike Pence's political team has spent US$224,000 on stays at hotels owned by US President Donald president since 2017
The hotel did not respond to requests for comment.
The resort is on the opposite side of the country from Dublin, with CNN reporting that the location required Pence to make “an hour’s drive plus a 40-minute flight” to get to his destination.
“It wasn't like a ‘you must’,” Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters. “It wasn't like a ‘you have to’.”
Short also confirmed that the visit was taxpayer-funded, but added that the vice-president paid personally for the stay of his mother and his sister, who accompanied him.
This is not the first time Pence has shown a preference for Trump properties. The Daily Beast news and opinion website reported that Pence's political team has spent US$224,000 on stays at hotels owned by the president since 2017.
Yet this latest visit has prompted a fresh backlash from Trump critics including Senator Ted Lieu of California, who tweeted that Pence was “funnelling taxpayer money” to the president.