Donald Trump Relentlessly Criticized Obama For Golfing, But Has Already Golfed Far More Than Obama
Donald Trump was relentless in his criticism of Barack Obama’s golf habits, but now that he’s become president, Trump has already golfed 16 times and is set to far outpace his predecessor in trips to the links.
Trump was seen again this Sunday making a trip to his Trump International Golf Course, with photographers catching him driving a cart and practicing his putting, CNN reported. It marked Trump’s 16th visit to a golf course since his inauguration.
As CNN noted, Barack Obama didn’t make his first trip to the golf course until nearly 100 days into his presidency, with the first documented trip coming on April 26, 2009. The first 100 days were a particularly busy time for Obama, as he navigated through one of the biggest economic declines in decades and pushed through the nearly $1 trillion stimulus plan.
While Donald Trump has faced similar difficulties — including a growing conflict in Syria and plans to implement his own health care plan that ended up crashing and burning — he hasn’t avoided golfing as Obama did.
Because Donald Trump was such a harsh critic of Barack Obama’s golfing habits, many news outlets are keeping a much closer watch on how often Trump hits the links. The Palm Beach Post even keeps a running log of all Trump’s golf visits, noting that he likes to frequent his own establishments.
“The Palm Beach Post estimates it’s his 13th golf outing as president — a rate of once for every 6.1 days he’s been in office. All Trump’s golf outings have come on Saturdays or Sundays and all have been on Trump-branded courses.
“Former President Barack Obama golfed 333 times as president, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News. That’s a rate of once every 8.8 days he was in office.”
Trump’s use of his own golf courses has also drawn criticism, with many noting that Trump stands to benefit financially from the trips.
The sense of mystery around his golfing trips has also drawn criticism. White House officials have been very secretive about Trump’s golf trips, not listing them on any of his public schedules. And on at least one occasion, Trump was spotted golfing at a time his public schedule claimed he would be in high-level meetings.
Interesting #Trump #golf pic.twitter.com/ecJFRyvHAv
— Creative Review (@CreativeReview) March 31, 2017
Trump’s own words on his golfing habits are also coming back to haunt him. As CNN recalled, Trump bragged many times during the 2016 presidential campaign that he wouldn’t have time to go golfing with all the important work he would have to do.
“You know what — and I love golf — but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry [in Scotland] 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,” Trump said. “I don’t ever think that I’d see anything. I just wanna stay in the White House and work my ass off, make great deals, right? Who’s gonna leave? I mean, who’s gonna leave?”
Many others have revived the frequent tweets Trump shot off against Barack Obama for going golfing, including some with direct parallels to Trump’s own presidency. In 2013, Trump criticized Obama for golfing amid the growing civil unrest in Syria.
"@gretawire: PresObama is not busy talking to Congress about Syria..he is playing golf …go figure"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2013
Sunday’s golfing trip for Donald Trump came just three days after he decided to launch a missile strike against Syria, done so without consulting Congress.
[Featured Image by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]
