Donald Trump took to Twitter this week to share a copy of a check for $100,000 that he was donating from his presidential salary directly to the Department of Homeland Security, which critics point out represents roughly 3 percent of what taxpayers spend for each of Trump’s twice-weekly golfing trips.
Trump had vowed before taking office that he would donate all of his salary to charity (or in this case, directly back to the federal government), and has made good on it so far. On Monday, he announced that he would be giving a portion of his $400,000 salary back to the department in charge of border security and took a swipe at his critics in doing so.
“While the press doesn’t like writing about it, nor do I need them to, I donate my yearly Presidential salary of $400,000.00 to different agencies throughout the year, this to Homeland Security,” Trump wrote on Twitter . “If I didn’t do it there would be hell to pay from the FAKE NEWS MEDIA!”
But Trump still found himself in trouble from critics who noted that Trump is racking up taxpayer costs at a rate much higher than past presidents, especially when it comes to golfing trips. Though Trump frequently criticized Barack Obama for going golfing and also promised during the 2016 presidential campaign that he would be too busy to go golfing as president, Trump has ended up golfing at a rate much higher than Obama or George W. Bush.
Taxpayers have footed the bill for about $91,000,000 in expenses related to President Trump’s golf outings at his own clubs in Florida and NJ on at least 161 occasions since his inauguration. https://t.co/K613jQu6e3 https://t.co/cjQavs1vct
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) March 18, 2019
Each of these golf trips comes at a high cost to taxpayers. A February report from the Government Accountability Office found that Trump’s golf trips cost a total of $3.4 million each, close to three times higher than original estimates of roughly $1 million. Many took to Twitter to point out that Trump’s $100,000 donation would cover about 3 percent of one single golf trip, and Trump has been hitting the links at a rate of more than twice per week through the first two years of his presidency — for a total of roughly $91 million in total.
Nothing to see here, just the US President using a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland to promote his golf course in Ireland. https://t.co/ye6gfZHMKu
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) March 17, 2019
Donald Trump has been frequently criticized for golfing at the courses owned by his own company, so that all the rental fees from Secret Service for golf carts and other expenses ends up back in his own pocket. The costs extend beyond golf, as a report from The Inquisitr noted that taxpayers also picked up a $54,000 bill for tent rentals for the New Year’s Eve party at his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort.
