How Much Taxpayer Money Has Trump Spent On Golf

The claim: Trump'southward golf trips have price the American taxpayer $141,000,000

One of President Donald Trump's favorite recreational activities is golf game.

Robert Reich, author and erstwhile Labor secretary, claims in an Oct. nineteen mail service to his Facebook folio that the hobby is subsidized past U.S. taxpayers.

"One time again, Trump brags about donating his $400,000 presidential bacon. Somehow he forgot to mention that his golf trips accept cost taxpayers $141,000,000," says a screenshot of a tweet Reich posted that same 24-hour interval.

Reich, who served during the Clinton assistants, was named one of the 10 best Chiffonier members in the 20th century past Time magazine. The documentary maker at present runs a blog, RobertReich.org.

Reich has not responded to a asking for comment from USA TODAY. The White House was also asked to comment.

It is likely the estimated costs of the president'south golf trips was derived from independent websites such as Trump Golf Count, which tracks government spending.

More than:Donald Trump slammed Obama for using Air Force One for election candidature. Now he does the aforementioned

Trump's golf game trips

Presidents routinely travel for business and campaign events; in the latter instance, the campaign is required to reimburse the government, Usa TODAY reported. Merely the reasons for official travel are at the discretion of the White House, rendering the toll of Trump's golf game trips a bit of a mystery.

In 2017-18, Trump spent 69 days of his presidency in Mar-a-Lago, a Palm Beach, Florida, resort owned by the Trump Organization; 33 at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club; and 31 at Trump National in Sterling, Virginia, according to USA TODAY in June 2018.

By this May 25, the president had visited a Trump golf game grade 266 times, CNN reported. And Sept. 5 marked Trump's 295th visit to i of his golf properties, according to CNN's Jim Sciutto.

Sophie Germain has kept track of the president's golfing and its costs at the Trump Golf Count site since his 2017 inauguration. USA TODAY has reached out to her for comment.

An itemized breakdown of travel costs to various golf resorts totaled $141,450,266, according to Germain. Her tally of expenses includes the toll of flights to Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster; constabulary enforcement personnel costs for trips to Bedminster and Palm Beach; Coast Guard protections for Trump's Mar-a-Lago getaways; government-funded resort stays and luxury vehicle rentals in Turnberry, Scotland, some other Trump-owned property, in 2018; and lodgings at Trump's golf game club in Doonbeg, Republic of ireland, in 2019. The last golf trip recorded on the website happened on Oct. 16.

Let'southward wait at the details.

Estimated expenses

Overall expenses for Trump's travels to New Jersey and Florida were estimated at $six.4 million a year, and security costs charged by local governments are reimbursed past the federal authorities, according to Trump Golf Count.

A portion of Germain's calculations are sourced from a 2019 Government Accountability Report that details expenses incurred past federal agenciesbetween Feb. 3 and March 5, 2017.

Using the same data for a Feb 2019 study, the Washington Post estimated Trump'south trips to Mar-a-Lago alone cost the U.S. taxpayer approximately $64 million during his first ii years in role.

Roughly $10.half-dozen 1000000 was spent on operating costs for government shipping and boats and $3 1000000 on temporary duty costs including transportation, meals, lodging and incidental expenses from Feb. 3-6; Feb. 10-12; February. 17-xx; and March 3-five, 2017, co-ordinate to The Post. Near $13.5 million was spent on services provided by the Department of Homeland Security the Defense Department made up the majority of the expenses.

Another $sixty,000, including $24,000 for lodging for Defense Department personnel and $36,000 for operational infinite used by DHS, was noted in the report.

Air Strength One costs would be amid the Defense Department's expenses. In fiscal year 2020, the mission reimbursable rate for Air Forcefulness One — including fuel, flight consumables, shipping overhaul and engine overhaul — cost $176,393 per hour, according to the U.S. Air Force.The rate was $165,000 per hr in 2019, co-ordinate to the Pentagon, as reported by USA TODAY.

Post reporter Philip Crash-land reported Trump made 19 trips to Mar-a-Lago betwixt January 2017 and Feb 2019.

"If we, therefore, assume a blanket boilerplate of $3.4 million per trip, regardless of duration, the total the authorities has spent on Trump'due south trips to the resort tops $64 million," Crash-land wrote. Flights alone deemed for $40 million of Bump's guess, the Mail service's Glenn Kessler reported.

Crash-land also observed that Trump played golf during 31 of his kickoff 78 weekends in office at various locations effectually the earth. A weekend stay at his resort in Turnberry in July 2018 cost more than than $1.1 million, co-ordinate to a report released past the Business firm Oversight and Reform Committee. Trump tweeted he golfed at the resort between meetings with NATO members and Russian officials.

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A stopover in Doonbeg, Ireland, during a three-mean solar day visit to the U.k. in 2019, added some other $three.half-dozen meg in expenses to his international golf outings, according to a report by HuffPost.

Every bit for Trump'southward trips to Bedminster: The president owns a business firm in the New Jersey suburb, so members of the press are not allowed access to the club, according to Trump Golf game Count .

"At this point, whenever Trump spends the greater function of a day at Bedminster, we count it equally a 'visit,'" and whatsoever innuendo to golf game or pictures of the president in golf attire counts as a "confirmed golf outing," she explained.

Trump has played golf during 24 of 96 trips to Bedminster since the showtime of his presidency, according to a table maintained by TrumpGolfCount.com.

But Kessler questioned the exercise of attributing travel costs for the president and his support staff exclusively to golf game. Such estimates "flimsy" and "misleading," he said.

"Much of the logistical support for a president must follow him wherever he goes, so if the president has one four-hour round of golf in a 24-60 minutes day, is it fair to attribute all of those daily security and logistical costs to that round of golf? We would say no," Kessler wrote in a July 2018 fact-check slice.

Our rating: Missing context

We rate this claim MISSING CONTEXT, based on our inquiry. References to Trump'southward golf trips accept been well-documented throughout his presidency. The president, himself has admitted to visiting golf game resorts owned by the Trump System while traveling away. Merely the reason for his official travel is at the discretion of the White House. Much of the costs for golf outings and resort stays are estimates. Absent that confirmation, we cannot say with certainty this number is true.

Our fact-check sources:

USA TODAY, May 29, 2019: "Donald Trump slammed Obama for using Air Force 1 for election campaigning. At present he does the same"
HuffPost, June 7, 2019: "Trump's $3.6 Million Ireland Detour Brings Taxpayer-Funded Golf game Tab To $105.viii million"
House Committee on Oversight and Reform, March 23: "New Report Shows Taxpayers Foot the Nib for President Trump's $1 Million Weekend Golf Trip to His Resort in Scotland"
General Services Administration, accessed Oct. 28: State Department receipts
Trump Golf Count, accessed Oct. 27: "Oftentimes Asked Questions"
Trump Golf Count, accessed Oct. 27: "President Trump'due south Golf game Outings"
United states of america Regime Accountability Part, accessed October. 27: "PRESIDENTIAL TRAVEL Secret Service and DOD Need to Ensure That Expenditure Reports Are Prepared and Submitted to Congress"
The Washington Mail service, July 20, 2018: "Trump says golf is his 'primary form of exercise.' We talked to an good most how constructive that is."
The Washington Postal service, June 5, 2019: "Trump to stay at Doonbeg, his money-losing golf class threatened by climate modify"
Donald J. Trump July 14, 2018 tweet
USA TODAY, Sept. 6, 2019: "Firm Democrats investigating Vice President Mike Pence's stay at Trump resort in Ireland"
Fourth dimension Magazine, accessed Oct. 28: "Top ten All-time Cabinet Members"
USA TODAY, June 12, 2017: "President Trump crashes wedding at his Northward.J. golf society"
United states of america TODAY, June xx, 2018: "Trump's Mar-a-Lago visits cost Coast Guard nearly $20M"
USA TODAY, April eighteen, 2020: "Trump's Mar-a-Lago furloughs all 153 'nonessential' employees during coronavirus pandemic"
Jim Sciutto Sept. 5 tweet
CNN, May 25: "Fact bank check: Trump has spent far more fourth dimension at golf clubs than Obama had at same signal"
The Washington Post, July 27, 2018: "Have U.S. taxpayers spent $72 one thousand thousand on Trump's golf game outings?"