White House officials have dismissed a claim made by an Indian news outlet that Barack Obama's trip to India would cost $200m (£122m) a day as "wildly inflated". The claim was seized upon by rightwing talkshow hosts in the US, but the Obama administration declined to put a figure on the cost of the three-day visit to Mumbai and Delhi.
"The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality," Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said.
"Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it's safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated."
Another news report claimed the US would be deploying 34 warships off the coast of Mumbai to protect the president. Officials said that was similarly exaggerated.
The Factcheck.org website pointed out that the US war in Afghanistan, which involves 100,000 troops, costs about $190m a day.
But that did not stop some Republicans, conservative talkshows and Fox News from seizing on the report and accusing the president of wasting government funds in tough economic times.
There is little doubt, though, that – as usual when the president travels abroad – he will be accompanied by a large staff and a vast operation including aircraft, a fleet of cars and heavy security.
