Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Trump's Golf Habit Has Now Cost US Taxpayers Over $102 Million

Donald Trump

We all remember Donald Trump's campaign promise to never play golf if he were to be elected president.

Back in 2016, he repeatedly said he wouldn't have time to play golf. In fact, he told voters he would probably never leave the White House because he'd be so busy working for the American people.

“I love golf, but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again. I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again,” he told supporters at a rally in February 2016. “I don’t ever think I’d see anything. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off.”



And yet,... it didn't really turn out that way.

Wednesday is the 853rd day of the Trump presidency, and the Donald has spent 174 of them at one of his own golf courses, according to Huffpost.

By Obama’s 853rd day in office, he had spent 70 days at a golf course. Huffpost reports of those golf days were at courses on military bases: Joint Base Andrews or Fort Belvoir, both in suburban Washington a short motorcade ride from the White House.



Huffpost crunched the numbers and the Donald's golf habit has cost U.S. taxpayers over $102 million in extra travel and security expenses.

And next month, his hobby will pass a new milestone: a seven-figure presidential visit to another country so he can play at his own course.

U.S. taxpayers have spent $81 million for the president’s two dozen trips to Florida, according to a HuffPost analysis. They spent $17 million for his 15 trips to New Jersey, another $1 million so he could visit his resort in Los Angeles and at least $3 million for his two days in Scotland last summer ― $1.3 million of which went just for rental cars for the massive entourage that accompanies a president abroad.

While Trump criticized President Obama for playing golf during his administration, Trump's time on the links is more than double Obama's when compared to this point in each presidency.

According to Huffpost, that $102 million spent on Trump’s presidential golfing so far is:

• 255 times the annual presidential salary he volunteered not to take

• More than three times the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that Trump complains about

• Would fund six years of the Special Olympics program that Trump’s recently proposed budget had originally cut to save money


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