Donald Trump 14th Golf Trip, Playing Twice As Much As Barack Obama, Says Report
Before Donald Trump became the president, he used to criticize former President Barack Obama for spending too much time playing golf. But according to recent reports, in less than 90 days of his presidency, Donald Trump has played golf twice as much as Obama did and the tax payers are not at all happy with it.
Donald Trump recently invited Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to play golf at one of his eponymous courses. During the game, the president and the senator talked about repealing Obamacare. White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham confirmed that President Trump was playing golf with Rand Paul and Mick Mulvaney at Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia.
According to the magazine Golf Digest, when Barack Obama served as the commander in chief, he played golf 306 times. According to the magazine, Obama’s two terms had a total of 2,922 days. That means, he went on to play the game every nine and a half days.
When Donald Trump was just a candidate, he had been a fierce critic of former President Barack Obama for his outing to the golf courses. Between 2011 and 2016, President Trump tweeted at least 26 complaints about Barack Obama’s frequent golf games.
While our wonderful president was out playing golf all day, the TSA is falling apart, just like our government! Airports a total disaster!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2016
President Obama has a major meeting on the N.Y.C. Ebola outbreak, with people flying in from all over the country, but decided to play golf!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2014
During a campaign rally in 2016, then-candidate Trump referred to his golf courses when he talked about Barack Obama’s frequent trips to golf games.
“You know what — and I love golf — but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again, I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again, I own Doral in Miami, I don’t think I’d ever see many of the places that I have, I don’t ever think that I’d see anything, I just wanna stay in the White House and work my a** off, make great deals, right? Whose gonna leave? I mean, whose gonna leave?”
I don't mind that @BarackObama plays a lot of golf. I just wish he used it productively to make deals with Congress!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2012
According to CNN, the recent golf game turned out to be Trump’s 14th trip to one of his courses in just 10 weeks since taking the oath of the oval office. March 31 was Trump’s 71st day in the office, that means he went on to play golf every five and a half days.
Several economists and financial advisors think that President Trump’s golf trips are a waste of taxpayers’ money. According to Independent, each of Trump’s trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida are estimated to cost around $2 million.
Many of his associates have defended Trump’s right to “relax.” Former campaign spokesman Jason Miller tweeted that Donald Trump was not elected to “solitary confinement.” Mr. Miller went on to suggest that it is very good for President Trump if he wants to do “off-campus meetings” on the weekend.
Similar to Mr. Miller, one article from Golf Digest also defended Donald Trump’s choice of recreational activity, suggesting that the 70-year-old President Trump does not take any other form of exercise and given his age, it is very important that he is taking good care of his health by playing golf.
“Given the strains of the job, a workout routine is important for presidents. Like 50 percent of Americans, Trump doesn’t exercise. At 70-years-old, it’s especially vital the 45th POTUS gets some type of physical activity, making golf the perfect conduit to fill this need.”
Presidents before Barack Obama and Donald Trump also enjoyed playing golf. President Eisenhower even suggested that playing golf is their way to improve international relations.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul recently talked about the meeting he had with President Trump and how the party members are “getting closer” on a compromise repeal plan.
“We had a great day with the president,” Paul said. “We did talk about some health care reform. I think the sides are getting closer and closer together. And I remain very optimistic that we will get an ObamaCare repeal.”
[Featured Image by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images]
