Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, on February 23, 2017. Mike Theiler | AFP | Getty Images

CPAC attendees: We don't believe Trump's trips are costing more than Obama's

On Wednesday, more than a dozen CPAC attendees greeted those reports with skepticism, hostility, and, in few occasions, mild concern. Overwhelmingly, the most common reason they cited was that they didn't trust the underlying story — because they didn't trust the press to tell the truth. Donald Ely, 83, a Pennsylvania Republican Party official, had heard the stories of Trump's travel expenses. But he wasn't sure he could trust them. "I resented Obama going to all these places overseas, particularly because his agenda was anti-American," Ely said. "But the way people make up the stories about the Trumps, I don't know if I believe it. I don't think it's accurate." Similarly, Arthur Herstein, 74, a writer from Bowie, Maryland, said he was frustrated by Obama's "over-the-top" vacation and travel expenses. Still, Herstein said he doesn't believe it's the case that Trump is on pace to spend more on vacation and travel. He waved away a Washington Post story held up on a reporter's phone. "I believe that the story exists," Herstein said. "But the facts in it can't possibly be right. That absolutely can't be right. How did Trump spend $10 million in one month and Obama spent $11 million in a year? It defies logic." Of course, the idea that Trump and his supporters are frustrated by the media is nothing new. But some CPAC attendees' distrust of even government institutions ran strikingly deep. "I don't trust the bookkeepers. I don't trust the people who say, 'This president spent X and this president spent Y,'" said Roy Postel, 58, a real estate developer from near Chicago. "The whole bureaucracy is against Trump, so I'd like to know who is getting greased to tell us what Obama spent. I wouldn't trust anyone with an estimate of what the Trump administration has spent on travel."

CPAC attendees: Trump gave up a lot to become president