Did taxpayers spend $72 million on Trump’s golf outings?
Fact check: Have U.S. taxpayers spent $72 million on Trump’s golf outings? “Trump has spent 123 days golfing, or 1/5 of his term, at a cost to taxpayers of $72,181,957 — and still hasn’t visited troops in a war zone.”-
How many times has Donald Trump golfed?
By this May 25, the president had visited a Trump golf course 266 times, CNN reported. And Sept. 5 marked Trump's 295th visit to one of his golf properties, according to CNN's Jim Sciutto. Sophie Germain has kept track of the president's golfing and its costs at the Trump Golf Count site since his 2017 inauguration.
Does VoteVets track Trump’s golf trips?
Doug Gordon, a spokesman for VoteVets, said the information came from a website called TrumpGolfCount.com, maintained by a self-described “data junkie” named Sophie Germain. The website tracks every trip to a golf club made by Trump and offers a total estimate for the cost of the trips. Germain did not respond to our queries.
How many times has Obama played golf during his presidency?
Obama played 333 rounds during his eight years as president, according to Knoller. In other words, Obama played golf once every 8.77 days as president. Trump, conversely, has been at a golf club once every 4.92 days so far.
How many days has Trump been golfing?
While VoteVets says Trump has spent “123 days golfing,” the website says that there are only 59 days when Trump was confirmed to have golfed, as the White House is generally secretive about whether the president has golfed while visiting one of his golf-club properties.
Why did Germain write the Fact Checker?
Update: After this fact check was published, Germain wrote The Fact Checker to thank us for the “excellent article,” which she said “make really great points.” She said she would examine more closely the figures used for air travel and would immediately begin using a rounded figure on the website, not a precise dollar amount.
Is it fair to attribute all of the costs of presidential travel and support to a round of golf?
One can also broadly question whether it is fair to attribute all of the costs of presidential travel and support to a round of golf. Much of the logistical support for a president must follow him wherever he goes, so if the president has one four-hour round of golf in a 24-hour day, is it fair to attribute all of those daily security and logistical costs to that round of golf? We would say no.
Did Donald Trump criticize Obama's golf?
As a candidate, President Donald Trump was heavily critical of Barack Obama’s golf habit and once told an audience that “I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf.” So obviously that makes his own golf habit fair game for scrutiny.
How many days has Trump been on a golf course?
By contrast, Knoller said, Trump has spent all or part of 248 days at a golf course. CNN's own count has Trump at 266 days spending some time at a Trump golf course. Since Trump and his aides often refuse to confirm that he actually played golf during a visit to a golf club, even when he has been spotted in golf attire, ...
Why did Trump say he would never see his property again?
Trump said at an August 2016 campaign rally that he may never see his properties again if he was elected, explaining, "Because I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf." And in an October 2016 speech, Trump said Obama's struggles to pass legislation were a result of excessive golfing.
Why did Trump denounce the media?
Trump denounced the media, which he called "sick with hatred and dishonesty," for supposedly failing to mention that Saturday was his first time golfing in three months. (CNN, among other outlets, did note that it was his first golf outing since March 8.) Trump also accused the media of failing to talk about "all of the time Obama spent on ...
How many rounds did Obama play?
Obama played 333 rounds during his eight years as president, according to Knoller. In other words, Obama played golf once every 8.77 days as president. Trump, conversely, has been at a golf club once every 4.92 days so far.
Did Trump play golf?
Facts First: Trump has spent much more time playing golf than Obama did through this point of the term -- after repeatedly attacking Obama's golfing and claiming he would not play if he got elected himself. Just Trump's airplane trips to his Mar-a-Lago Club and residence in Florida, from which he has often taken a motorcade ride to a nearby golf course he owns, have required far more air travel than Obama's once-a-year Hawaii vacations did through this point in the term.
How many times has Donald Trump golfed?
As of Sep. 21 2020, according to Trump Golf Count, Trump has golfed 279 times during his presidency, costing taxpayers an estimated 141 million dollars. With the same caveats described above, this would amount to 352.5 presidential salaries as of late September 2020.
How much money did Donald Trump spend on golf?
Several analyses have calculated that Trump, as of October 2019, incurred around $109 million in taxpayer spending related to his golf outings, which is close to the amount of money a president would make if he were being paid $400,000 annually for 278.5 years.
Is Germain's estimate in the ballpark?
That being said, Kessler noted that Germain’s estimates were “in the ballpark” of figure s released by the Government Accountability Office. Still, he argues that “one cannot fairly attribute all of these costs to golf, given the round-the-clock security required for a president.”.
Is there a single correct number for Trump's golf outings?
However, no single, correct number exists regarding the cost of Trump’s golf outings due to the multiple ways one can approach this question. Further, the level of precision implied by the figure “278.5 years” is not reflective of reality, given the assumptions made in the calculations.
Why did Trump play golf?
One reason Trump has been able to play so much golf is that he inherited an economy that was in very good shape vs. Obama taking office in the teeth of the Great Recession.
How many rounds of golf has Donald Trump played?
As can be seen in the chart below from trumpgolfcount.com, Trump has played at least 88 rounds of golf since he became President, has likely played 139 and has visited golf courses over 193 days. These compare to Obama’s 76 outings over the same timeframe.
How much did Trump spend on Mar-a-Lago?
The GAO report estimated that just four of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago cost: 1 $13.6 million 2 Do not “capture all of the total expenditures by the government” 3 Do not “include certain classified cost information” 4 $60,000 in expenses paid to Mar-a-Lago (there have been 24 so far) 5 Were not able to identify meals and incidental expenses, if any, that may have been incurred at the Mar-a-Lago club
How much does Trump's golf trip cost?
So far Trump’s golf trips have cost at least $105 million. Trump’s trips to his golf courses are very expensive and much more than Obama’s since Trump’s have been more frequent and usually requires Air Force One and all the accompanying security arraignments.
How much money did Donald Trump make in 8 years?
106 times Trump’s $400,000 salary over 8 years combined (which he is donating back to the government) Almost twice the $190 million annual cost for the Peace Corps. $25 million more than the $315 million annual cost for the General Accounting Office.
Is Trump's golf more expensive than Obama's?
Trump’s trips to his golf courses are very expensive and much more than Obama’s since Trump’s have been more frequent and usually requires Air Force One and all the accompanying security arraignments.
Did Mueller's team bring in more than it spent?
But in reality Mueller’s team brought in more than it spent due to acquiring enough of Manafort’s assets to more than pay the full cost
How many false statements did Trump make on Sept 11?
The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, which maintains a cumulative total, found that as of Sept. 11 Trump had made 23,035 false or misleading statements in 1,331 days. That amounts to a full employment act for fact checkers. Day after day, I read transcripts of Trump’s appearances at rallies and White House briefings.
Who said everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts?
The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” But he did not and could not have anticipated a world where some people clung to “alternative facts.” That is a serious problem for a democracy.
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Did Biden need fact checking?
There were also times when President-elect Joe Biden needed fact checking, just not as many. While he made mistakes, he did not share Trump’s flagrant disregard for the truth. And he wasn’t around nearly as much.
