Donald Trump loves to golf and just about everyone knows it because the president spends most of his weekends on the links.
He also doesn’t mind bragging about his prowess. His love for the sport is not debated. It’s the cost of his playing to the American taxpayer that comes with controversy.
The last estimated tab run-up by the president came in March from HuffPost. At the time, he was estimated to be sitting at nearly $30 million spent since being sworn-in on Jan. 20.
And, yes, while Trump mostly golfs at his properties, the American taxpayer still foots the bill. Considering all the slashing and burning Trump claimed to be doing with Elon Musk and DOGE in the government, that has left him open for criticism.
“If we are gonna talk about efficiency … let’s talk about the fact that, as of March 30, Trump’s golfing has cost us approximately $26 million,” Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett said back in April. “The last time I checked, we’re not getting anything in return for that. So, I will get back on my remarks, but I just wanted to point out that maybe we need to talk about the president and his golfing habits. He has decided that he wanted to play games while the rest of us are really trying to make sure that we can serve the American people.”
Trump spent an estimated $151.5 million of taxpayer money golfing across his first term so he is well on his way to blowing that total out of the water during this second term.
Those are big numbers. Lot of millions spent hitting a little white ball. Which brings the obvious question of just how much it costs for the president to play a round of golf.
Well, for those concerned about how much it costs Americans for the president to play, the figures are from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report that examined Trump’s first four trips to Mar-a-Lago during his first administration. You can see the report, here. It calculated that each of those trips cost $3,383,250, and that was based on 2017 dollars meaning that the actual cost today is likely higher than the estimate.
The costs involved with him golfing in Florida include flying in on Air Force One. Also, per the site, the military flies the vehicles for his motorcade in on C-17s each time he makes the trip. Also, because Mar-a-Lago, where Trump stays while he plays at his courses, is on the water, police boats with machine guns and a Coast Guard vessel have to be called in to patrol. The site said additional costs included law enforcement and bomb sniffing dogs.
