There’s a reason why no other sitting president before Donald Trump ever attended a Super Bowl.
It’s expensive, not to mention a security nightmare. And in this day where every penny counts — literally — Americans are wondering why their president isn’t setting a better example.
Though the final numbers aren’t in, estimates of Trump’s appearance at the dud of a Super Bowl reveal it cost an additional $15 million in flight and security costs to get the president, his daughter Ivanka, son Eric and grandson Theodore to the game and keep them safe while in New Orleans.
It generally costs about $3 million to $4 million for an American president to take a short trip anywhere in the U.S. Security had already been increased in New Orleans due to the horrific truck attack on Jan. 1 that killed 15 people. Armed guards around every corner, snipers stationed on rooftops, police dogs on patrol … pretty much every available form of security was deployed in the Big Easy.
Here’s the estimated tab:
Secret Service: $7M to $10M.
Air Travel and Motorcade: $4M-$5M.
Stadium Security Upgrades (Additional metal detectors, bomb sweeps, security checkpoints): $2M.
Local Law Enforcement (Overtime & personnel): $1M.
Total: $15M to $20M.
It’s a price tag that doesn’t sit well with Americans already facing the high cost of eggs and other goods and products. Trump’s tariffs threaten to raise prices even more, and the man in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency warned his cuts would lead to “temporary hardship.”
As one commenter on the Musk-owned social media platform X stated: “The man with more money than anyone else on Earth says everyone’s temporary hardship will be worth it. How much hardship will HE endure during all this?”
“Where’s DOGE?” asked another after checking the receipts for Trump’s weekend getaway.
The president didn’t even stay for the entire game, leaving an hour before its conclusion (though, with the Eagles making the Chiefs look like a bad Pop Warner team, it’s a wonder why anyone would’ve stayed).
Trump’s appearance at the Super Bowl was already controversial. As columnist Mike Freeman wrote in USA Today: “So the most divisive president of our lifetime is attending a game that often serves as a genuine moment of unity. Trump soils everything. Now, he’s doing the same to the biggest game of the year.”
Depending on which video you trust, Trump was either wildly cheered or roundly booed by fans at the Superdome. Probably both. Had fans known how much of their money was spent getting him and his family there, the boos might’ve won in a landslide.
“This is an outrageous waste of taxpayer money! $15-20M for Trump to attend the Super Bowl? That’s money that could be better spent on public services, not on personal spectacle. His attendance politicizes a national event unnecessarily,” posted one irate commenter on X.
MAGA Nation, however, was unmoved.
“A fraction of what they’ve saved already,” posted one fan on X. “I don’t care.”
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