Trump Is Playing Golf Again Today Has Cost Us Taxpayers Millions
The claim: Trump'southward golf trips accept cost the American taxpayer $141,000,000
1 of President Donald Trump's favorite recreational activities is golf.
Robert Reich, writer and onetime Labor secretary, claims in an Oct. nineteen mail service to his Facebook page that the hobby is subsidized past U.Southward. taxpayers.
"Once again, Trump brags about altruistic his $400,000 presidential salary. Somehow he forgot to mention that his golf game trips have cost taxpayers $141,000,000," says a screenshot of a tweet Reich posted that same day.
Reich, who served during the Clinton administration, was named one of the 10 best Cabinet members in the 20th century by Time magazine. The documentary maker now runs a blog, RobertReich.org.
Reich has not responded to a request for comment from USA TODAY. The White House was likewise asked to comment.
It is likely the estimated costs of the president's golf game trips was derived from independent websites such every bit Trump Golf Count, which tracks authorities spending.
More than:Donald Trump slammed Obama for using Air Forcefulness 1 for election campaigning. Now he does the same
Trump'southward golf trips
Presidents routinely travel for business organisation and campaign events; in the latter case, the campaign is required to reimburse the authorities, USA TODAY reported. But the reasons for official travel are at the discretion of the White Firm, rendering the price 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 Organisation; 33 at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club; and 31 at Trump National in Sterling, Virginia, according to The states TODAY in June 2018.
By this May 25, the president had visited a Trump golf game course 266 times, CNN reported. And Sept. five marked Trump's 295th visit to one of his golf properties, according to CNN'due south Jim Sciutto.
Sophie Germain has kept rail of the president'due south 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 price of flights to Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster; police 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, another Trump-owned holding, in 2018; and lodgings at Trump'southward golf club in Doonbeg, Ireland, in 2019. The last golf trip recorded on the website happened on Oct. 16.
Let's expect at the details.
Estimated expenses
Overall expenses for Trump'south travels to New Jersey and Florida were estimated at $6.4 1000000 a year, and security costs charged by local governments are reimbursed by the federal government, according to Trump Golf Count.
A portion of Germain'due south calculations are sourced from a 2019 Government Accountability Report that details expenses incurred by federal agenciesbetwixt February. 3 and March 5, 2017.
Using the same data for a February 2019 written report, the Washington Postal service estimated Trump'south trips to Mar-a-Lago solitary cost the U.S. taxpayer approximately $64 million during his first two years in role.
Roughly $ten.6 1000000 was spent on operating costs for authorities aircraft and boats and $3 million on temporary duty costs including transportation, meals, lodging and incidental expenses from February. 3-6; Feb. 10-12; Feb. 17-20; and March 3-5, 2017, co-ordinate to The Post. About $xiii.5 meg was spent on services provided past the Department of Homeland Security the Defense Department made up the majority of the expenses.
Another $60,000, including $24,000 for lodging for Defense force Department personnel and $36,000 for operational space used by DHS, was noted in the report.
Air Strength Ane costs would be amidst the Defence Department'south expenses. In fiscal year 2020, the mission reimbursable rate for Air Force One — including fuel, flight consumables, shipping overhaul and engine overhaul — price $176,393 per hour, according to the U.S. Air Strength.The rate was $165,000 per hour in 2019, according to the Pentagon, equally reported past USA TODAY.
Postal service reporter Philip Crash-land reported Trump made 19 trips to Mar-a-Lago betwixt January 2017 and February 2019.
"If we, therefore, assume a blanket average of $3.4 million per trip, regardless of duration, the total the government has spent on Trump's trips to the resort tops $64 million," Bump wrote. Flights alone accounted for $40 million of Bump's estimate, the Mail'south Glenn Kessler reported.
Bump also observed that Trump played golf during 31 of his first 78 weekends in part at various locations effectually the world. A weekend stay at his resort in Turnberry in July 2018 price more than than $1.1 million, according to a written report released by the Firm Oversight and Reform Commission. 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 3-day visit to the United Kingdom in 2019, added another $3.6 million in expenses to his international golf outings, according to a written report by HuffPost.
Every bit for Trump's trips to Bedminster: The president owns a house in the New Jersey suburb, then members of the press are non immune access to the club, co-ordinate to Trump Golf game Count .
"At this betoken, whenever Trump spends the greater function of a 24-hour interval at Bedminster, nosotros count it equally a 'visit,'" and any allusion to golf or pictures of the president in golf attire counts equally a "confirmed golf game outing," she explained.
Trump has played golf during 24 of 96 trips to Bedminster since the kickoff of his presidency, co-ordinate to a table maintained by TrumpGolfCount.com.
Just Kessler questioned the practise of attributing travel costs for the president and his support staff exclusively to golf. Such estimates "flimsy" and "misleading," he said.
"Much of the logistical support for a president must follow him wherever he goes, then if the president has one iv-hour circular of golf in a 24-hour day, is information technology fair to attribute all of those daily security and logistical costs to that round of golf? Nosotros would say no," Kessler wrote in a July 2018 fact-cheque piece.
Our rating: Missing context
Nosotros charge per unit this claim MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research. References to Trump's golf trips have been well-documented throughout his presidency. The president, himself has admitted to visiting golf resorts owned by the Trump Arrangement while traveling abroad. But the reason for his official travel is at the discretion of the White Firm. 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 Strength One for ballot campaigning. Now he does the same"
- HuffPost, June 7, 2019: "Trump's $3.6 Million Republic of ireland Detour Brings Taxpayer-Funded Golf game Tab To $105.8 million"
- Firm Commission on Oversight and Reform, March 23: "New Report Shows Taxpayers Foot the Bill for President Trump's $1 Million Weekend Golf game Trip to His Resort in Scotland"
- General Services Administration, accessed October. 28: Country Department receipts
- Trump Golf game Count, accessed Oct. 27: "Often Asked Questions"
- Trump Golf Count, accessed Oct. 27: "President Trump's Golf game Outings"
- United States Government Accountability Office, accessed Oct. 27: "PRESIDENTIAL TRAVEL Secret Service and DOD Need to Ensure That Expenditure Reports Are Prepared and Submitted to Congress"
- The Washington Postal service, July xx, 2018: "Trump says golf game is his 'chief form of practice.' We talked to an expert about how effective that is."
- The Washington Mail, June 5, 2019: "Trump to stay at Doonbeg, his money-losing golf form threatened by climatic change"
- Donald J. Trump July fourteen, 2018 tweet
- USA TODAY, Sept. vi, 2019: "House Democrats investigating Vice President Mike Pence's stay at Trump resort in Republic of ireland"
- Fourth dimension Mag, accessed Oct. 28: "Height 10 Best Cabinet Members"
- USA TODAY, June 12, 2017: "President Trump crashes wedding at his North.J. golf lodge"
- USA TODAY, June 20, 2018: "Trump'south Mar-a-Lago visits cost Declension Guard nearly $20M"
- USA TODAY, April xviii, 2020: "Trump's Mar-a-Lago furloughs all 153 'nonessential' employees during coronavirus pandemic"
- Jim Sciutto Sept. five tweet
- CNN, May 25: "Fact check: Trump has spent far more time at golf clubs than Obama had at aforementioned bespeak"
- The Washington Post, July 27, 2018: "Take U.Southward. taxpayers spent $72 million on Trump's golf game outings?"
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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/31/fact-check-taxpayer-burden-trumps-golfing-hard-pin-down/3718413001/