JET-SETTER

Trump’s Navy Chief Blew $2M on Eight-Month Traveling Spree, Says Report

Former Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite reportedly flew to Wake Island, at a cost of $232,000, just one week before the Biden inauguration.

While the coronavirus pandemic stymied travel for most people—inside and outside of government—Donald Trump’s Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite was reportedly trotting the globe. According to USA Today, Braithwaite embarked on 22 foreign and domestic trips during his very short eight-month stint in the job, costing some $2.4 million. The most eyebrow-raising trip came in January, just a week before Joe Biden was sworn in as president, when Braithwaite reportedly flew to Wake Island, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the Navy says no U.S. Marines or sailors are stationed, at a cost of $232,000. According to the report, Braithwaite also spent than $24,000 on travel to the Army-Navy football game. During his eight months, Braithwaite reportedly took more trips than any other senior Pentagon civilian. However, he defended his journeys, saying that “it’s impossible to lead men and women deployed around the world from behind a desk in Washington.”