Jaw dropping amount Donald Trump's 13 rounds of golf have reportedly cost US taxpayers this year
President Donald Trump has supposedly used a substantial sum of public funds to enhance his athletic skills since taking office again this year.
After being inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, Trump, 78, has conducted a failed meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and selected Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. He has also stated his electoral win over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was a 'mandate'; shows willingness to publish a 'questionable' document about assassination attempts against him, and lately signed an executive order creating a disputed Bitcoin reserve. Notably, Trump has played golf on 13 out of the 48 days since his inauguration.
Based on an Independent article, this hobby is costing taxpayers an enormous amount of money. The entrepreneur, who has previously called golf a 'passion' rather than a sport, possesses 12 Trump Golf facilities in the United States, two in Scotland, and one each in Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). HuffPost reports that the US president has completed ten rounds at the exclusive Trump International West Palm Beach and three at Trump Doral since returning to Washington DC. Trump Doral is an 800-acre property east of Miami International Airport, while Trump International West Palm Beach offers a 27-hole golf course just five minutes from the Atlantic Ocean.
Trump's golfing activities during his first White House term regularly made news, with The Washington Post estimating in 2019 that his trips to Florida to play would cost taxpayers $64 million. However, by October 2020, Robert Reich, writer and former Labor secretary, determined that Trump had actually cost taxpayers a staggering $141 million. Reich stated at the time: "Once again, Trump boasts about giving away his $400,000 presidential salary. Somehow he forgot to mention that his golf trips have cost taxpayers $141,000,000."
In 2018, a single weekend in Scotland cost taxpayers over $1 million, according to The Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats. So, what impact have Trump's 13 golf rounds this year had on American citizens?
HuffPost has examined data from a Government Accountability Office report issued in 2019 to suggest the president's golf excursions have likely cost American taxpayers over $18 million. Trump and his team reportedly fly to Florida golf courses using Air Force One, with extra expenses coming from security personnel and bomb-detection dogs.
On Saturday (March 8) law enforcement stated they were examining a vandalism occurrence at Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. The BBC indicates that a pro-Palestinian organization had spread red paint across portions of a structure, and the phrase 'Gaza is not for sale' had been painted on one green. A representative for Trump Turnberry described it as a 'childish, criminal act', referring to the course as a 'national treasure and will continue to be the number one symbol of luxury and excellence in the golf industry'.
