DeSantis blew $1.6M on week-long junket designed to boost foreign policy credentials: report

Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis spent $1.6 million dollars on a week-long trade mission in April, Politico reported Saturday.

The bulk of the cash paid for two private jets that carried DeSantis and his wife Casey around the world, stopping in Japan, South Korea, Israel and England.

The trip had been organized by the now defunct Enterprise Florida, an economic development agency that said no public money had been used for the trip.

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The trip had been seen as a way for DeSantis to build his foreign policy credentials before declaring he was running for the presidential nomination.

Records seen by Politico showed that $1.49 million was spent on transportation, with $66,000 covering hotels and $9,800 on food. Another $20,000 paid for “programs and mission administration.”

Enterprise Florida, in a report seen by Politico, claimed the trip was paid for using private donations.

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Politico requested the names of the donors, but was not given them.

DeSantis' travel costs have been under scrutiny after the Florida legislature passed a bill earlier this year shielding publicly-funded travel records from the public.