It's costing a fortune to protect the Trump family

A Secret Service agent stands watch as President Barack Obama arrives aboard Marine One in New York on September 13. 

Protecting the president isn't easy or cheap, and according to estimates from The Washington Post, the cost to protect President Donald Trump and his family is on track to supersede what it cost to protect former President Barack Obama and his family by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Judicial Watch, a conservative group that tracked the cost of travel expenses for Obama, estimated that $97 million was spent during his eight years in office.

However, based on the first four weeks of Trump's presidency, which included three trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump is well on his way to jump past that figure.

The Post rounded up a handful of estimates of the costs of protecting the Trump family incurred by the US departments of Defense and Homeland Security and local police agencies.

Here are a few:

• Three trips to Mar-a-Lago since Trump's inauguration may have cost about $10 million, based on a government report from October that analyzed White House travel, The Post said. The expenses include the cost of US Coast Guard patrol boats on the shoreline.
• Palm Beach County officials say they will request reimbursement of tens of thousands of dollars per day from the White House for their deputies who provided security and logistical support around the city.
• Police officials estimate that it would cost New York $500,000 a day, or $183 million a year, to guard Trump Tower, where first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump live.
• Secret Service and US embassy employees paid about $100,000 in hotel room bills during Eric Trump's trip to Uruguay, where he promoted a Trump-branded building.
• If the Pentagon secures rental space in Trump Tower — needed for when the president returns to New York — it could cost $1.5 million per year, according to the building's website.
• Secret Service paid $12,000 for tents, portable toilets, light towers, and golf carts during Trump's Super Bowl weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago.

(President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, hidden at left, dine with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, third from left, and his wife, Akie Abe, right, at Mar-a-Lago on February 10.AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 

“This is an expensive way to conduct business, and the president should recognize that,” said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. “The unique thing about President Trump is that he knows what it costs to run a plane,” Fitton said about Trump's travel to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He suggested Camp David