Barack and Michelle Obama made their first trip to New York City since he took office, enjoying dinner and a Broadway play over the weekend.
After both parents attended eldest daughter Malia's soccer match (her team won), they boarded a C-20 plane and arrived in the Big Apple Saturday afternoon. (A White House press spokesperson said that the President had "promised" his wife that he would take her to a Broadway show after the election was all finished.)
Source: The Daily Mail
The romantic jaunt is estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than £45,000 in transport and security costs - because the date was in New York.
The President used three planes, one to carry the couple and two to ferry aides and reporters all the way from Washington.
The cost of each flight was thought to be nearly £15,000.
The bill was pushed even higher with the use of two helicopters, one to take the Obamas to catch their plane in Washington and another to zip the party into Manhattan from JFK airport.
Police also shut down New York streets for the motorcade to pass through so they could get to their date on time.
However, Gail Gitcho, of the Republican National Committee, said Mr Obama could just as easily have taken his wife to see a show in Washington for a fraction of the cost.
'If President Obama wants to go to the theatre, isn't the presidential box at the Kennedy Centre good enough?' she said.
The Republican Party slammed the President for taking an extravagant outing at a time when American car giant General Motors is set to plunge into bankruptcy.
'As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan's theatre district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills,' read the statement issued before the trip.
Source: UK Mirror
"Three jets of security staff accompanied the Obamas all the way from Washington to dinner in Manhattan before the play Joe Turner's Come And Gone - about poor black workers 100 years ago. The night is believed to have cost $1million but recession-hit New Yorkers did not seem to mind, clapping the couple through the streets all the way to their seats. Talk about stealing the show!"
