Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Which Trump golf courses have ongoing tax abatements or PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) as of 2025?
Executive Summary
As of 2025, the clearest, consistently reported ongoing tax abatements affecting Trump Organization golf properties are at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey, where parcels qualify for farmland assessment-based tax breaks that sharply reduce taxable value and cut annual bills by hundreds of thousands of dollars [1] [2]. Reporting cites the New Jersey Farmland Assessment Act of 1964 as the legal mechanism, with the Bedminster club identified repeatedly as saving roughly $240,000–$257,000 annually by classifying substantial acreage as hay, woodland, or agricultural use; Colts Neck is cited as achieving large multi-year savings as well [1] [2]. Other documents reviewed do not provide a comprehensive list of Trump golf courses with PILOTs or abatements nationwide as of 2025, so Bedminster and Colts Neck remain the only properties repeatedly documented in the set of analyses supplied [3] [4] [5].
1. How Bedminster’s farmland assessment translated into big tax savings—and why it matters
Reporting shows Bedminster’s tax abatement flows from the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, which sharply lowers assessed value if land is used for specified agricultural purposes like hay production or livestock grazing; articles quantify the club’s claimed acreage—roughly 113 acres of hay and 70 acres of woodland or wetland—and estimate annual tax savings between about $240,000 and $257,000 [1] [2]. The mechanism works by valuing qualifying acres at a fraction of their market price—examples in the reporting contrast market values exceeding $100,000 per acre versus farmland assessment values near $474 per acre—so the policy effect is a steep reduction in property tax bills [1]. The reporting frames this as legal under state law, but also draws attention to criticism that the program can be used by affluent landowners to obtain outsized tax benefits on nontraditional agricultural properties such as golf courses [2].
2. Colts Neck: multi-year cuts and the broader pattern in New Jersey golf properties
Analysts cite Colts Neck as another Trump-owned course that has leveraged farmland assessments, noting roughly 86 acres classified for hay and woodland use and reporting cumulative tax reductions—nearly $926,000 over five years—in local accounting presented in the same coverage that documents Bedminster [1]. The pattern across these New Jersey properties is consistent: classification of parts of expansive golf estates as agricultural land yields large tax reductions under a program designed to preserve working farmland. Coverage stresses that the statute is not unique to the Trump Organization—other wealthy landowners and heirs of prominent families have used the program—so the issue sits at the intersection of statutory interpretation, local tax policy, and public perceptions about fairness and program intent [1] [2].
3. What the supplied sources do not show—and why there’s no comprehensive national list here
Among the analyses supplied, several examined Trump Organization ventures or legal topics but did not identify other U.S. golf courses with ongoing abatements or PILOTs as of 2025, including pieces focused on international development and legal reporting that list properties without documenting tax arrangements [4] [6] [5]. One review notes an article that mentions a $240,000 farm tax break without specifying the course, underscoring gaps in public reporting and the difficulty of producing a definitive national inventory from this corpus alone [3]. The absence of broader documentation in the supplied material means the only repeatedly corroborated cases in these analyses are Bedminster and Colts Neck; additional local tax records, municipal PILOT filings, or state assessment databases would be required to assert other abatements with confidence [7] [8].
4. Conflicting framings: legal compliance vs. criticism of program abuse
The supplied coverage presents two consistent framings: proponents of the assessments point to formal compliance with the Farmland Assessment Act’s criteria and the statute’s longstanding legal basis, while critics argue the program is being stretched beyond its intended purpose to provide tax relief for high-value nonfarm uses such as private golf clubs [2] [1]. The reporting documents that the Trump Organization’s use of farmland designations has precedent among other high-net-worth owners, which supporters use to argue policy neutrality; critics highlight that the scale of savings and the recreational character of golf courses undercut the policy’s conservation or farm-support rationales [1] [2]. These divergent narratives reflect policy and political tensions over land-use taxation, which local officials and state lawmakers have periodically revisited.
5. Bottom line and where to look next for a fuller accounting
Based on the supplied analyses, the only Trump golf courses with clearly documented ongoing farmland-assessment tax abatements as of 2025 are Bedminster and Colts Neck in New Jersey, with quantified annual and multi-year savings cited in recent reporting that references the Farmland Assessment Act [1] [2]. The supplied materials do not identify specific PILOT agreements for Trump courses elsewhere, nor do they provide a nationwide inventory; producing that would require reviewing county tax assessor records, municipal PILOT agreements, and state farmland assessment registries beyond the articles summarized here [3] [4]. For an authoritative, exhaustive list, consult local tax rolls and state farmland assessment databases for each golf property location.