Taxpayer Costs of Presidential Golf Trips: Over $150 Million Spent at Trump-Owned Properties During First Term
Tier 3Documented2017-01-20 to 2021-01-20
Factual Summary
During his first term in office, Donald Trump played golf approximately 293 days at his own properties, generating an estimated $151.5 million in taxpayer-funded costs for travel, security, and support logistics. The spending represented a direct financial benefit to Trump's private business, as the Secret Service and other government agencies were required to pay for accommodations, facilities, and services at Trump-owned golf clubs and resorts.
Before his election, Trump had repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for playing golf while in office. In a 2016 campaign rally, Trump stated: "I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf." In other campaign statements, he said he would "rarely leave the White House because there's so much work to be done" and that he "would not be a president who took time off to play golf." Once in office, Trump's golf outings far exceeded Obama's. By independent counts, Trump played approximately 307 rounds of golf during his first term, compared with approximately 333 rounds over Obama's eight years in office.
The Government Accountability Office conducted audits of the costs associated with Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago and other properties. The GAO found that it cost approximately $273,063 per hour to operate the modified Boeing 747 that served as Air Force One for Trump's trips to Florida. Individual trips to Mar-a-Lago were estimated to cost approximately $3.4 million each when accounting for Air Force One operations, Coast Guard maritime security, Secret Service advance teams, and other logistical support.
A particularly expensive trip occurred in the summer of 2025, when Trump traveled to his golf resorts in Scotland at a cost of approximately $9.7 million to taxpayers. The trip included Trump's participation in the grand opening of a new course at his Aberdeen property, a commercial event for his for-profit business that White House staff helped promote.
The Secret Service was required to rent golf carts, pay for hotel rooms, and secure perimeters at Trump-owned properties, with payments going directly to Trump's businesses. Government spending records obtained through FOIA requests documented hundreds of thousands of dollars in Secret Service payments to Trump properties. The House Oversight Committee investigated these expenditures and released reports showing that taxpayer funds flowing to Trump properties represented a recurring financial benefit to the president's personal business interests.
Primary Sources
1. Government Accountability Office reports on presidential travel costs to Trump properties
2. Secret Service spending records at Trump properties, obtained through FOIA
3. House Oversight Committee: "New Report Shows Taxpayers Foot the Bill for President Trump's $1 Million Weekend Golf Trip to His Resort in Scotland"
4. Trump campaign statements and rally transcripts promising not to play golf as president, 2016
Corroborating Sources
1. HuffPost: "Taxpayers' Tab for Donald Trump's Golf Habit Crosses $100 Million," 2025
2. Irish Star: "Scarcely believable taxpayer sum Donald Trump has spent on playing golf"
3. Factually: "What was the taxpayer cost of Donald Trump's golf trips?"
4. Trump Golf Count: independent tracking of presidential golf outings and associated costs: https://istrumpgolfing.today/cost-breakdown/
Counterarguments and Context
The White House argued that presidential travel always incurs significant costs regardless of the destination and that Trump frequently conducted official business during his visits to golf properties, including hosting foreign leaders at Mar-a-Lago and his Bedminster club. Supporters noted that Camp David, the traditional presidential retreat, also generates security and operational costs and that Trump preferred his own properties because they offered superior facilities for diplomatic engagements. They also argued that independent cost estimates relied on assumptions about per-trip expenditures that may overstate the actual totals. The Trump Organization stated that it provided services to the government at fair market rates. Critics responded that unlike Camp David, which is a government-owned facility, Trump's properties are private businesses that profit directly from presidential visits, creating a financial incentive for the president to travel to his own properties. The contrast between Trump's campaign promises to forgo golf and his actual behavior was documented through his own on-camera statements.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the costs are documented through primary evidence, including GAO audits, government spending records, FOIA-obtained Secret Service payment data, and independent tracking of presidential travel. The exact total cost varies depending on methodology and which agency expenditures are included, but all credible estimates place the first-term total well above $100 million. This entry focuses on the taxpayer cost dimension rather than the broader emoluments questions, which are documented in EMOL-001 and EMOL-002.