President Donald Trump has allegedly spent a hefty amount of taxpayers’ money on improving his sporting capabilities since returning to office earlier this year.
Since being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, Trump, 78, has hosted a disastrous meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and appointed Elon Musk to head up the Department of Government Efficiency.
He had also claimed his presidential victory over Democratic ticket Kamala Harris was a ‘mandate’; is willing to release a ‘suspicious’ report on assassination attempts made against him, and recently signed an executive order establishing a controversial Bitcoin reserve.
Interestingly, Trump has also played golf on 13 of the 48 days he’s been in office.
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According to an Independent report, this activity is costing taxpayers an eye-watering sum of money.
The businessman, who has previously described golf as a ‘passion’ rather than a game, owns 12 Trump Golf properties in the United States, two in Scotland, and one in Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to HuffPost, the US leader has played ten rounds at the private Trump International West Palm Beach and three times at Trump Doral since returning to Washington DC.
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Trump Doral is an 800-acre resort east of Miami International Airport, while Trump International West Palm Beach features a 27-hole golf course just five minutes from the Atlantic Ocean.
Trump's golfing habits during his first White House term made frequent headlines, with The Washington Post predicting in 2019 that his travel to the Sunshine State to play sport would cost taxpayers $64 million.
However, by October 2020, Robert Reich, author and former Labor secretary, calculated that Trump had actually cost taxpayers an eye-watering $141 million.
At the time, he wrote: “Once again, Trump brags about donating his $400,000 presidential salary.
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"Somehow he forgot to mention that his golf trips have cost taxpayers $141,000,000."
In 2018, one weekend spent in Scotland cost taxpayers more than $1 million, The Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats reported.
So, how has Trump’s 13 rounds of golf this year impacted US citizens?
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HuffPost has looked at figures from a Government Accountability Office report published in 2019 to allege the president’s golf trips have probably cost American taxpayers more than $18 million.
Trump and his entourage are understood to fly to the golf courses in Florida using Air Force One, while additional costs are incurred by patrolling law enforcement and explosive-sniffing dogs.
On Saturday (March 8) police confirmed they were investigating a vandalism incident at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
The BBC reports that a pro-Palestinian group had plastered red paint across part of a building, and that the words ‘Gaza is not for sale’ had been sprayed across one green.
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A spokesperson for Trump Turnberry called it a ‘childish, criminal act’, calling the course a ‘national treasure and will continue to be the number one beacon of luxury and excellence in the world of golf’.
UNLAD has approached the Presidential office of Donald Trump for comment.
Topics: Donald Trump, Sport, US News, Money, Politics
Ella Scott