unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Eye-watering amount Donald Trump's rounds of golf reportedly cost taxpayers
Home>News>Sport
Published 15:29 28 Jan 2025 GMT

Eye-watering amount Donald Trump's rounds of golf reportedly cost taxpayers

The figures derive from President Trump's first term in office

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Topics: Donald Trump, Money, Politics, Sport, Travel, US News

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

While Donald Trump may have criticized Barack Obama for the time he spent on the golf course during his presidency, the businessman-turned-politician spent substantially more time playing the sport.

Before running for office for the first time, Trump honed in on how many days Obama spent on the course rather thatn in the Oval Office.

He tweeted back in 2014 while Obama was president: "We pay for Obama's travel so he can fundraise millions so Democrats can run on lies. Then we pay for his golf."

Donald Trump often criticized Barack Obama's golfing habits (Twitter)
Donald Trump often criticized Barack Obama's golfing habits (Twitter)

Advert

But fast -orward to when Trump came into office, and he hardly stopped taking part in his favorite pastime.

The Trump Organization owns 18 different golf resorts across the globe, its website states, and the President frequently visits his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in particular.

There are different reports on how many times Trump frequented the golf course during his first four years in office, but figures range from 248 to 266 days, CNN reported.

In comparison, Obama played around 333 rounds during his eight years as president, according to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.

But, as Trump's aides typically refused to confirm if he was visiting his golf resorts for business or pleasure (despite being pictured in his golf attire), the amount of time he actually spent playing the sport is unknown.

The Trump Organization owns 18 different golf resorts (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Trump Organization owns 18 different golf resorts (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Regardless, he still spent a lot of time traveling to the resorts that just so happened to have golf courses – and presidential travel isn't cheap.

In 2019, The Washington Post predicted that Trump's travel would cost taxpayers $64 million, but by October 2020, Robert Reich, author and former Labor secretary, calculated that Trump had cost taxpayers and eye-watering $141 million.

He tweeted at the time: "Once again, Trump brags about donating his $400,000 presidential salary.

"Somehow he forgot to mention that his golf trips have cost taxpayers $141,000,000."

Trump's travel reportedly cost taxpayers $140 million (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Trump's travel reportedly cost taxpayers $140 million (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Just one weekend spent in Scotland in 2018 cost taxpayers more than $1 million, The Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats reported.

Addressing this two years later, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Senator Tom Carper, and Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement: "American taxpayers should not be on the hook for President Trump's golf weekend to a property he owns as a private businessman.

"The President has consistently abused the levers of government to promote his own personal enrichment, and we are calling on him today to reimburse the American people for the more than $1 million price tag for this unnecessary and wasteful trip. This is their money—not his—and he should return it to them immediately."

It isn't thought he did so, however.

UNLAD have approached Trump's office for comment.

Choose your content:

12 hours ago
13 hours ago
14 hours ago
  • Heather Diehl/Getty Images
    12 hours ago

    Trump reveals final phone call with Lindsey Graham hours before senator died

    Lindsey Graham died aged 71, his office announced on Sunday

    News
  • Getty Stock Photo
    13 hours ago

    Sniffing chocolate when working out at the gym could help boost your performance, research suggests

    Sniffing dark chocolate before a workout could seriously boost performance, without touching a single bite

    News
  • Getty Stock Photo
    14 hours ago

    What travelers need to know about 'explosive diarrhea' outbreak that's sparked health alarm across US

    Health officials say washing your fruit and veg might not actually protect you at all

    News
  • @‌mackenzieshirilla/Instagram
    14 hours ago

    Ohio corrections official issues update after Mackenzie Shirilla's behind-bars photos spark backlash

    Dominic Russo's sister asked those with concerns to contact prison authorities

    News
  • Eye-watering amount ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is set to cost taxpayers every year
  • Trump's Department of War rebrand may cost taxpayers $125 million as new budget details revealed
  • Jaw-dropping amount Donald Trump's 13 rounds of golf have reportedly cost US taxpayers this year
  • Donald Trump's approval rating sits at record low in new polls after US 250th birthday