President Donald Trump’s golf hobby has apparently racked up quite the bill for American taxpayers, as reports estimate the total cost to be somewhere around $115 million — the equivalent of 287 years of presidential salary.
According to the Huffington Post , hundreds of thousands, or possibly even millions, of those dollars have actually gone directly into Trump’s own cash register after hosting Secret Service agents, White House staff, and other administration officials at his own resorts.
The POTUS is currently spending Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida — his preferred golf course.
When asked if she knew how many additional administration officials are staying at the resort as well and what this vacation is costing taxpayers, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham simply replied, “No.”
While the White House’s reluctance to reveal exact numbers makes it difficult to total the various golf trip’s expenses, Huffington Post dug deep to produce a shocking, albeit rough, estimate.
Various news organizations and watchdog groups have uncovered payments tallying hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For example, ProPublica discovered Mar-a-Largo charged taxpayers $546 a night (almost three times the government’s per diem) for rooms for some 24 Trump administration officials staying there during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2017 visit.
Taxpayers also picked up a $1,006.60 bar tab after the White House staff ordered 54 top-shelf drinks.
As of Thursday, Trump has spent more than 225 days at Mar-a-Lago as part of his frequent golf trips.
Huffington Post estimates these trips have cost taxpayers nearly $2.3 million in travel and Secret Service expenses alone. That’s $2.3 million spent at Trump’s own businesses.
In fact, a Government Accountability Office report found that each one of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago actually costs taxpayers closer to $3.4 million, largely to fly Air Force One and the cost of transporting Trump’s armored limos and other motorcade vehicles.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump insisted that if elected, he’d have no time for any vacations.
“I love golf, but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’ve ever see Turnberry again. I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again,” he said . “I don’t think I’d see anything. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off.”
It would appear Trump changed his mind following his election, as he’s continuously hit the green without seemingly missing an outing. You can check out the record of every single time he’s played golf at trumpgolfcount.com .
Prior to his own presidency, Trump repeatedly slammed former President Barack Obama for playing golf while in office.
Back in 2011, Trump tweeted at Obama:
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“I play golf to relax. My company is in great shape. @BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain.”
At this point in Obama’s first term as president, he had spent 88 days on a golf course — Trump has spent more than 220.
A majority of Obama’s golf rounds took place at courses on military basis within driving distance of the White House.
Alternatively, Trump prefers to tee-off at one of his 17 courses, including those in New Jersey and Florida, both of which tally seven-figure travel and security costs.
“It’s becoming abundantly clear that Donald Trump uses his presidency as a way to put money into his pocket,” Jordan Libowitz of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Huffington Post . “The issue isn’t that he likes golf. The issue is that he has spent a huge amount of his presidency making promotional appearances at his struggling golf courses, and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.”
h/t: Huffington Post , ProPublica , Trump Golf Count
