More Than 300K Petitioners Want Melania Trump Out of NYC

320,000 signatures for $150,000 a day.

320,000-plus petitioners on Change.org want to give Ms. Trump and her 10-year-old son Barron the boot from New York City or have them start footing their own bill for the estimated $150,000 a day they’re costing U.S. taxpayers.

The petition itself reads: “The U.S. taxpayer is paying an exorbitant amount of money to protect the First Lady in Trump Tower, located in New York City … This expense yields no positive results for the nation and should be cut from being funded.”

According to an N.Y. Times piece from February, the security cost for Ms. Trump and Barron ranges from $127,000 to $146,000 a day, which comes out to between $50 and $60 million a year (based on whether President Trump flies to NYC on the weekend).

Such concerns about disruptions and wasted taxpayer money don’t just exist in a bubble on Change.org. Residents of Palm Beach, Fla. (where Mar-a-Lago is located), have worried that they might lose millions of dollars in possible revenue this year if the Trump family continues to take weekend trips to see one another.

In an NPR story about that matter, Rep. Lois Frankel pointedly suggested: “The White House might want to consider having the president bring the excitement of his position to other parts of the country where they would love to see and interact with the president and where he would be also very welcome.”

Find the full petition here. As of this writing, it has 323,750 supporters, with a goal of 500,000.