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Fact check: What is the estimated total cost of Trump's golf trips during his presidency?
Executive Summary
A review of the supplied reporting and assessments shows divergent but overlapping estimates: several recent pieces place the cumulative taxpayer cost of Donald Trump’s post-2024 golf travel at roughly $70–$71 million, while individual high-profile trips (Ryder Cup, Scotland) are separately estimated between $9.7 million and $17 million depending on methodology and included expenses [1] [2] [3]. Older and broader government-derived figures cited in the dataset show per-trip averages ranging from $1 million to $13.6 million, underscoring wide variance tied to different accounting choices and timeframes [4] [5].
1. Why the headlines cluster around "$70 million" — and why that alone is incomplete
Multiple contemporaneous reports published on September 26, 2025 converge on an aggregate figure of about $70–$71 million for golf-related costs since Trump resumed the presidency, citing security, transportation, and local policing as main drivers [1] [2]. These pieces emphasize recent additions such as Ryder Cup security and Air Force One movements to explain the spike, but they do not adopt a uniform accounting frame; some reports include projected local policing and overtime, while others emphasize federal assets like Air Force One and Secret Service overtime [1] [2]. That mix of projections and actuals produces a headline-friendly total but limits comparability.
2. Big-ticket trips: Ryder Cup and Scotland reveal how single events skew totals
Separate reporting assigns $16–$17 million specifically to the Ryder Cup visit and $9.7 million to a five-day Scotland trip, showing how a few concentrated outings can drive large incremental costs [1] [2] [3]. Those estimates bundle distinct cost categories—Air Force One operating costs, Secret Service overtime, Marine One and motorcade logistics, and local police augmentation—yet published pieces differ on whether they use historical per-hour flight estimates, public agency overtime figures, or local law enforcement estimates. This variance explains why individual-trip estimates vary significantly despite covering the same event.
3. Government-derived benchmarks show a wide range, not a single standard
The dataset includes a 2022 Air Force assessment and a GAO-derived figure that point to tens of millions overall and per-trip averages that vary from ~$1 million to $13.6 million, respectively, indicating no single government-standard figure is being applied uniformly across reports [4] [5]. The $1 million figure is often used in media to capture basic travel operating costs, while the $13.6 million average cited in one report reflects a broader definitional scope, potentially including continued security posture and extended deployments. The tension between narrow operational costs and broad total-cost accounting creates the wide reported range.
4. Frequency matters: more visits multiply costs even if per-trip accounting differs
One dataset notes 99 visits to Trump properties, including 62 to golf courses, a 37% increase from his prior term, which underlines how frequency amplifies taxpayer exposure even when per-trip totals vary [6]. If analysts apply conservative per-trip figures (e.g., $1 million) the cumulative cost is already substantial; if they apply broader averages like $13.6 million, totals escalate rapidly. Thus, divergent totals reflect both methodological choices and the simple arithmetic of increased travel frequency tied to presidency-related security and transportation needs.
5. Methodological disagreements drive the headline discrepancies
The supplied analyses show three recurring methodological fault lines: scope of costs (federal assets only versus including local policing), temporal frame (post-resumption 2025 versus entire presidency), and whether estimates are ex-post or projected for upcoming events [1] [2] [4]. Reports published on September 26, 2025 frequently mix ex-post aggregates with forward-looking estimates for pending trips like the Ryder Cup [1] [2]. These choices produce legitimate but incommensurable figures, and readers must note whether a story reports realized expenditures, projected expenses, or blended tallies.
6. What is not in these figures — important omissions to consider
None of the supplied pieces uniformly discloses detailed line-item budgets from federal agencies, so estimates omit transparent cross-agency reconciliations and often rely on projections or historical unit costs applied to new events [1] [3] [4]. Crucial exclusions may include long-term Opportunity Costs, classified security expenditures, or inter-agency mobilization expenses that are rarely fully published. The absence of a single, verified federal compilation in these sources means the headline totals are best understood as estimates with materially different scopes, not definitive audited figures.
7. Bottom line: best-supported current conclusion and where uncertainty remains
Based on the dataset, the best-supported public estimate for Trump’s golf-related travel since resuming the presidency is approximately $70–$71 million, with individual high-cost trips adding notable discrete sums ($9.7M for Scotland; $16–$17M projected for Ryder Cup) and government benchmarks offering per-trip ranges from $1M to $13.6M that explain variance [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. However, because sources mix projections with historical averages and differ on included cost categories, uncertainty around the true audited total remains significant, and a comprehensive federal accounting would be required to settle remaining discrepancies.