As we know, Trump and his minions are shameless so pointing out their hypocrisy is politically useless. But it is worth noting, nonetheless, for the sake of posterity. And one of Trump’s most glaring acts of hypocrisy is the fact that he relentlessly criticized president Obama for playing golf and then:
Since taking office on Jan. 20, 2017, Mr. Trump has reportedly been on the grounds of his golf courses or played golf elsewhere 308 times since becoming President, and that’s as of Dec. 29, 2020.
The cost of Trump’s golf rounds to the American taxpayer varies by round and course, but it has totaled so far in the tens of millions of dollars. The Secret Service has spent at least $550,000 in third-party golf cart rentals and over $500,000 to stay overnight at Trump-owned properties, including his New Jersey country club.
He previously was on pace to visit his golf clubs more than 650 times in an eight-year presidency. However, his pace as of Aug. 6, 2018 now indicates Trump would spend as much as 745 days of his presidency at a golf course if he wins a second term and serves both terms to completion.
Trump ended 2017 with 91 golf course visits and was just shy of 100 visits in Year 1 as President. In his second year as President, Trump played golf 76 times.
Trump has spent nearly 22 percent of his days in office at one of his golf properties for some portion of the day. There have been days where Trump has visited one of his golf clubs and not played golf. He made a 40-minute visit to his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., and he has made a three-day visit to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., to watch the 2017 US Women’s Open, unfolding at that club. Trump spent a 17-day “working vacation” at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., in August, which meant all of those days count as days on his golf courses, even though he didn’t necessarily play golf on all of those days.
Trump claims to have a USGA handicap index under 5, but he is thought to have a vanity handicap that makes him seem better at the sport than he is.
I don’t really care if Trump plays golf. At least he isn’t watching Fox and rage tweeting. The problem is that he’s forcing the taxpayers to put money in his own pocket while he’s doing it. It’s obviously been a grift from the beginning. He could have played golf at other courses at least some of the time. But he insisted on only playing at his own golf courses ensuring that the money it costs to fund his recreation financially benefits him.
This is on top of the fact that his resorts all have paying customers who directly give him money for access. It is as corrupt as it gets. And I’m so old I remember when Republicans had a full blown hissy fit over the idea that people would give money to a global charity in order to be in good graces with a potential president. At the time everyone agreed it was the grossest example of outright corruption the world has ever known, despite the fact that the money went to save the lives of millions around the world. But personally giving Donald Trump a few hundred thou in order to get his ear to roll back a regulation or get some help with a legal problem is a-ok. I have little doubt that’s how some of those pardons of Palm Beach denizens came about.
I hope he spends all of his time on the golf course starting January 21st. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that he’ll be spending even more time on politics.
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