Donald Trump has visited golf clubs he owns on 82 days during the first year of his second term so far, with the trips costing taxpayers an estimated $70.8million
Trump’s golf outings have cost US taxpayers an estimated $70.8 million this year(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s penchant for a round of golf is reportedly set to cost US taxpayers a staggering $300 million during the president’s second term.
Nearly $71 million has already come out of American taxpayers’ pockets to fund Trump’s golf outings since his return to the White House in January, according to an analysis by HuffPost. The president headed back to his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Wednesday for what marked the 16th trip to his Mar-a-Lago country club since his second term began.
Each of those trips reportedly costs $3.4 million in travel and security expenses. The president has made four trips to Mar-a-Lago this month, including one over Halloween weekend.
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If he makes just two more next month then his golf expenses will have topped $75 million for 2025. If he follows the same golfing schedule for the rest of his four-year term, that figure will exceed $300 million, far higher than the total spent golfing during his first term.
Trump spent a total of $151.5 million of taxpayer’s money on golf-related travel and security expenses during his first time in the White House.
Trump’s golfing during his second term is set to cost far more than his golf trips during his first term(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
While Mar-a-Lago has no golf course of its own, it is close to both both of Trump’s courses in West Palm Beach and Jupiter. But they’re not the only courses the 79-year-old president has frequented in recent months.
Trump has also made nine trips to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, coming in at an estimated cost of $1.1 million per visit. He also traveled to in Aberdeen, Scotland, to promote a new course in a trip that totalled nearly $10 million in taxpayer money.
In total, all of Trump’s his golf trips have reportedly cost American taxpayers an estimated $70.8 million in travel and security expenses so far this year. The estimated costs are based off a 2019 Government Accountability Office (GOA) report on Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago during his first term.
Most of the money has been spent on salaries for military service members and law enforcement officers during the trips. The president’s Mar-a-Lago trips come with unique security challenges.
The resort is located on a barrier island situated between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. During the president’s visits, small boats fitted with machine guns patrol the waterway.
Trump regularly visits his own golf clubs(Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Coast Guard ships are also stationed offshore. However, Air Force One is the biggest expense of the trips.
The aircraft, which Trump uses to travel from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Palm Beach International Airport, costs $273,063 per hour to fly, according to the GAO report. This means each four-hour round trip costs Americans $1.1 million.
Trump’s trips to his course in Bedminster would cost $3.4 million on Air Force one but are cheaper, also coming in at $1.1 million, because the nearby airport cannot accommodate a Boeing 747. Instead, he travels on a smaller and cheaper modified 757.
