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How much did Donald Trump spend on golf trips during his presidency 2017-2021?
Executive Summary
Donald Trump’s golf-related travel and security costs during his 2017–2021 presidency are reported in recent analyses to cluster in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, with a commonly cited estimate of about $151.5 million for the first term; other reports place totals between roughly $130 million and $152 million, driven largely by repeated trips to Mar‑a‑Lago and Bedminster [1] [2] [3]. Estimates rely heavily on a 2019 Government Accountability Office (GAO) snapshot showing four early Mar‑a‑Lago trips cost taxpayers $13.6 million — an average often extrapolated to later trips — but methodologies, scope, and timeframes differ across outlets, producing variation and clear uncertainty about any single “final” total [4] [5].
1. Extracting the loudest claims — headlines that shaped reporting
Analysts extract several high‑impact claims: that Trump’s golf trips cost taxpayers between $130 million and $152 million during 2017–2021; that the GAO’s finding of $13.6 million for four early Mar‑a‑Lago trips implies about $3.4 million per trip, which researchers used to extrapolate costs to subsequent visits; and that Trump spent 293 days at golf courses, giving a headline per‑day cost exceeding $1 million in some accounts [6] [4] [2]. These claims became shorthand in media coverage because they are simple and attention‑grabbing: a multi‑million‑dollar per‑visit figure multiplied by dozens of trips yields large totals. Different outlets stress different facets — per‑trip averages, cumulative totals, or per‑day metrics — and that framing drives the apparent scale and public reaction [4] [7] [8].
2. Why estimates converge and why they diverge — the role of the GAO snapshot
Most estimates trace back to the same GAO material and local cost reports: the 2019 GAO review that calculated $13.6 million for four Mar‑a‑Lago trips provides a measurable baseline, and multiple analyses treat that average as representative [4]. From there, reporters multiply the per‑trip average by the total number of visits to get a cumulative sum, which explains convergence around $3.3–3.4 million per trip and totals near $151.5 million [1] [2]. Divergence arises because some studies include different trip sets, additional logistics (C‑17/Cargo flights), or local law‑enforcement costs, while others exclude certain categories or count only Mar‑a‑Lago versus all courses. The methodological choice to extrapolate an early sample to the whole presidency is the clearest driver of variance [5] [9].
3. Cross‑checking figures: multiple outlets, similar arithmetic, different agendas
Independent outlets reproduced similar arithmetic but emphasized different narratives: some headlines framed totals as $151.5 million in taxpayer costs [1] [8], others reported $144 million or a range of $130–150 million, and some presented a daily cost figure derived from reported days on courses [3] [2]. The numerical cores align because they reuse the GAO‑derived per‑trip cost; the framing reflects editorial priorities — outlets critical of Trump highlight cumulative waste or “grift” themes, while others stress the uncertainty in extrapolation or note that precise totals require exhaustive accounting of flight hours and local expenses [3] [9]. These differences illustrate how the same base data yields multiple credible but not identical totals.
4. Where the numbers falter — gaps, assumptions, and missing accounting
A persistent limitation is the absence of a single comprehensive federal tally covering every category and trip; one analysis explicitly notes no complete public tally exists and that careful estimation requires summing Air Force One hours, C‑17 missions, Secret Service, local policing, and Coast Guard presence — data not uniformly released [9]. The GAO snapshot covers specific early trips and local costs but does not itemize every later visit; extrapolation assumes later trips matched early ones in resource intensity, which may be inaccurate. Some local cost estimates (police overtime, Coast Guard boats) are unevenly reported across jurisdictions, producing systematic uncertainty that makes any single headline total best understood as an informed estimate, not a definitive invoice [4] [5].
5. Bottom line and how to interpret these totals going forward
The evidence supports a reasoned conclusion: reporting from 2019–2025 consistently places Trump’s presidential golf‑related taxpayer costs in the roughly $130–152 million range, with a widely cited figure of $151.5 million stemming from repeated extrapolations of GAO data [1] [2]. That figure is a credible aggregated estimate but not a precise, audited final cost because of incomplete public accounting and methodological choices about what to include. Readers and policymakers should treat the totals as a data‑driven approximation that highlights the substantial fiscal impact of presidential travel to private properties, while recognizing legitimate uncertainties that could tilt the final audited number up or down [9] [7].