"The campaign must pay for travel to any destination where campaign activity takes place, regardless of what else happens at the destination, " Biersack said.
Biersack said a common misperception is that when the president mixes official and political business on the same trip, his campaign can halve its reimbursement to the government.
"One hundred seventy million dollars would not be nearly enough for the president to run for re-election if he had to reimburse the full cost of traveling on Air Force One, " Federal Election Commission spokesman Bob Biersack said.