Trump Already Set to Pass Barack Obama’s 8-Year Dollar Total Spent on Golf Outings

When Donald Trump was a private citizen, he frequently complained about how often Barack Obama played golf. According to this piece from SB Nation, the now president tweeted about the former president’s golfing a total of 27 times.

Since taking office in 2017, Trump has been able to carve out plenty of time to hit the links. In fact, federal money spent on 3 years of Trump’s golf trips will soon surpass that spent on 8 years of Obama outings.

Trump’s golfing habits represent a significant departure from previous comments. While campaigning in 2016, he claimed, “I love golf. But if I was 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’d just want so sit in the White House and work my ass off. Make great deals.”

The President has not been true to those words. According to analysis from the Huffington Post, “Donald Trump’s golf habit has already cost taxpayers at least $102 million in extra travel and security expenses.” According to Judicial Watch a conservative watchdog group, Obama’s travel cost taxpayers $114 million over the course of 8 years.

Trump’s costs will continue to rise. The president is planning a golf trip to Ireland next month. During the trip, he will not hold any official meetings with Irish officials. He plans to informally meet with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Robert Weissman from Public Citizen, says, “It’s obviously an incredible waste of money. Of course, the more time he spends golfing, the less time he spends governing, the better.”