Barack Obama spent $ 1.55 million
Obama’s State Dinner for Manmohan Singh the most expensive: Report
Washington: US President Barack Obama has spent a whopping USD 1.55 million on five of his State Dinner since 2009, with the most expensive of them being the first one hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Records from the State Department Office of Protocol, whose budget covers state dinners, show they can cost taxpayers in excess of half a million dollars per event. In response to a Freedom of Information request to which it took the State Department 13 months to respond, a media house has obtained the Office of Protocol’s expense calculations for the first five state dinners of the Obama Presidency.
The Obama administration spent USD 572,187.36 for the State Dinner for Manmohan Singh at the White House on November 24, 2009. Obama hosted Mexican President Felipe Calderon on May 19, 2010 at a cost of USD 563,479.92.
He held his third State Dinner on January 19, 2011 for Chinese President Hu Jintao at a cost of USD 412,329.73. Obama held the fourth State Dinner on June 7, 2011 for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the cost was USD 215,883.36.
The fifth State Dinner was held on October 13, 2011 for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at a cost of USD 203,053.34, the report said. It said the State Department has not yet responded to another Freedom of Information request filed seven months ago for its rundown of the expenses for the sixth State Dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron on March 14, 2012.
