While Donald Trump and Elon Musk were set on cutting government jobs in an effort to supposedly cut back on what they deemed unnecessary government spending, Trump has evidently been spending millions in taxpayer dollars all on his own.
Despite his seemingly relentless DOGE efforts, back in March, it was reported that since he was sworn in on January 20, 2025, he had spent nearly $30 million indulging in his favorite hobby, golf.
As is often the case though, some Trump supporters don’t think his spending is a problem. And have reportedly argued that even the president should be entitled to some downtime. But some, including Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, say it proves his hypocrisy.
“If we are gonna talk about efficiency … let’s talk about the fact that, as of March 30, Trump’s golfing has cost us approximately $26 million,” Crockett said. “The last time I checked, we’re not getting anything in return for that. So, I will get back on my remarks, but I just wanted to point out that maybe we need to talk about the president and his golfing habits. He has decided that he wanted to play games while the rest of us are really trying to make sure that we can serve the American people.”
Trump reportedly spent an estimated $151.5 million in taxpayer money on his golfing excursions throughout his first term, so this kind of exorbitant spending is nothing new for him and his administration.
The figures come from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report that discussed Trump’s first four trips to Mar-a-Lago in his first term. The report determined that each of those trips cost $3,383,250. Considering inflation over the past several years, that costs would be significantly higher today.
Why so expensive? Well, his bill doesn’t just involve a few rounds of golf. He often flies to Florida on Air Force One to play, and the vehicles for his motorcade are flown in on C-17s for every trip he makes. Additionally, he stays at Mar-a-Lago during those golf trips, and the estate is on the water, so it’s necessary to bring in police boats armed with machine guns and a Coast Guard vessel for security during his stays. According to the study, law enforcement agents and bomb sniffing dogs also incur additional costs.
