Taxpayers have demanded $14 billion in ‘air taxis’ since the start of the Trump administration

Taxpayers have funded so-called “air taxis” for the US government to the tune of at least $14 billion since the beginning of the Trump administration, open source data shows.

The USA Spending website indicates that officials who worked during the Trump presidency spent $9.4 billion on “non-scheduled chartered passenger air travel.”

The numbers may anger some Republican voters, who have long emphasized the importance of restraint in government spending.

The bulk of the lucrative deals come from the Defense Department budget, but Pentagon officials declined to comment on the numbers

For example, cabinet secretaries or members of Congress may also ask to use military aircraft, which are not included in the data for security reasons, when they claim that such trips are “mission critical.”

A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Trump administration officials of “using the US Air Force as a taxi service.”

“More needs to be done about the misuse of government flights,” said the source.

Trump has come under repeated fire for his use of official aircraft, including his regular visits to Mar-a-Lago and his golf courses on Air Force One, the presidential jet.

However, the former commander-in-chief forced the resignation of his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, in September 2017.

The ex-president made the move when it emerged that Price had spent tens of thousands of dollars on private jets.

Since Joe Biden took office, his administration has spent nearly $4.7 billion on air taxis in just under two and a half years, according to USA Spending’s website.

It comes as the Biden administration is lecturing ordinary Americans about the dangers of climate change and a cost-of-living crisis thanks to two years of rampant inflation.

His officials have also begun a bizarre green crackdown on home appliances deemed too polluting.

A firm, Florida-based Presidential Aviation Inc., last month won a $22 million contract for “charter flights” for the Department of Homeland Security.

David Williams, president of the Protecting Taxpayers Alliance, said that “using a private jet has more to do with the culture and the sense that government officials are entitled to it.”

“It’s always nice to spend someone else’s money, especially when there are no consequences when you fly high on the taxpayer,” he said. “Congress needs to pass very strict rules about when and where private air travel is appropriate.”

Craig Holman, an ethics lobbyist with the pro-transparency group Public Citizen, called on the US government to share more details with the public.

“Presidents of all parties make frequent use of official jets to transport government officials and members of Congress and other staff around the world,” Holman said.

“We need full transparency on what all these trips are about so we can assess whether they are worth it,” he added.

The running costs of Marine One, a presidential helicopter, do not appear in the open source figures. But top government officials and members of Congress can request the use of military aircraft if they are deemed “mission critical.”

Travelogues and running costs for Air Force One and Air Force Two, used by the Vice President and Secretary of State on Air Force Two, are not publicly available.

The rules for junior officials to use U.S. Air Force aircraft are based on an Obama-era Defense Department dictate issued in 2009.

It says such requests will only be approved when “compelling operational considerations make commercial transport unacceptable.”

The Mail has reported in the past about how Trump’s children would often be present on official government jets.

Joe Biden also faced similar criticism after his son Hunter and his sister boarded Air Force One to accompany him on his recent visit to Ireland.

Private companies can also make lucrative deals for providing air taxi services to the US armed forces.

Texas-based Air Center Helicopter signed a $155 million deal with the Department of Defense in December that could take up to five years to transport passengers and cargo to Africa.

A whopping $3.9 billion has been spent on DoD air taxi contracts since the start of Biden’s presidency.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the numbers or the nature of contracts awarded during the current and previous administrations.

A spokesperson referred DailyMail.com to the US Transportation Command, which handles flight logistics for the government.