Trump’s $3.6 Million Ireland Detour Brings Taxpayer-Funded Golf Tab To $105.8 million
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to his Ireland golf resort Friday, in the process adding at least another $3.6 million to a taxpayer-funded golf tab that totals nearly $106 million in just 2 1/2 years.
Trump played golf Friday morning and possibly also played Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The White House press corps was not allowed on the property and was instead kept at a hotel in Limerick, more than an hour away from Trump’s resort in Doonbeg.
Trump also discussed his resort with Ireland’s minister for trade, employment and business upon his arrival at Shannon Airport, where he met Ireland’s prime minister. That 65-minute meeting was conducted at an airport lounge near the food court and the duty-free shopping because Trump did not want to travel to the nation’s capital, Dublin. It was the entirety of Trump’s official business in Ireland.
President Donald Trump's golf resort in Ireland began posting videos on social media of Trump playing golf and arriving there aboard Marine One within minutes of his departure Friday. (Photo: Twitter)
That meeting, in fact, was added well after the White House began planning for the visit to Doonbeg. The White House and the Irish prime minister’s office announced the meeting on May 21, but a team of White House, Secret Service and State Department officials visited Shannon and Doonbeg in late April.
The State Department began signing contracts for the trip on May 22. Among them: $1,023,940 to rent cars and limos; $10,866 to install temporary phone lines and $16,325 to rent golf carts for the Secret Service agents protecting Trump on the golf course.
In all, the department gave out $1.5 million in contracts for the Ireland detour, which was melded into Trump’s state visit to England and the ceremony in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of occupied France in World War II.
Trump claimed as he left the White House on Sunday: “Well, we’re going to be staying at Doonbeg, in Ireland because it’s convenient and it’s a great place. But it’s convenient.”
In fact, though, Trump was much closer to Paris and Normandy when he was staying in London for the first two nights of his trip. Staying in Doonbeg Wednesday night required a flight from England about 370 miles west to the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The Normandy visit on Thursday meant retracing most of those miles, flying 440 miles east, and then another 440 miles west to return to Ireland that afternoon.
With the additional travel costs of flying the planes that were used as Air Force One; the need to transport U.S. Marine Corps helicopters and presidential limousines to Ireland in addition to England and France; and the State Department expenses, the Ireland excursion cost taxpayers at least $3.6 million more than if Trump had stayed in London on Wednesday night and returned to Washington from France on Thursday, according to a HuffPost analysis.
That would bring the total for Trump’s golf vacations during his 2 1/2 years in office to $105.8 million.
Within minutes of Trump’s departure from the resort, meanwhile, Trump International Golf Links, Doonbeg, began posting video of his arrival aboard Marine One and of him teeing off the first green in its promotional material ― but then removed them after HuffPost began making inquiries. Both were posted to YouTube, however, by the Democratic-aligned opposition research group American Bridge.
In one video showing the Atlantic Ocean in the background, Trump can be seen hitting a drive and is heard shouting, as his partners compliment him: “No mulligans! No mulligans.”
The White House declined to comment for this story.
The group that has been suing Trump for accepting payments from foreign governments ― a violation of the Constitution’s “emoluments clause” ― said Trump’s behavior in Ireland in not surprising.
“At this point, it appears that Donald Trump views his presidency as just another way to support his business,” said Jordan Libowitz of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “On an international trip at taxpayer expense, he stopped by to film a commercial for his Irish golf course, which is advertising the stop explicitly as one by the president of the United States. His own lawyers, in their ‘Conflict of Interest’ white paper, said this would not happen. But at this point, it’s clear all that matters to President Trump is what makes him money.”
Trump has now spent 181 days of his first 2 1/2 years in office on a golf course, all but two of which have been on his own properties. (He has played twice in Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.) Trump has been at his Florida courses near his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago, on 61 days; at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort 58 days; his course in Los Angeles one day; and on his course in Turnberry, Scotland, for two days last summer.
That count is more than twice the number of days former President Barack Obama had golfed at the same point in his presidency. And because Trump insists on playing on courses he owns, his dollar total is more than three times the $30 million Obama had spent by this point.
Each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs taxpayers $3.4 million and each Bedminster trip at least $1.2 million. Obama, except for two vacations per year, played almost all of his golf at military bases within a short drive of the White House. Those trips, like Trump’s to his course in Northern Virginia, cost taxpayers very little beyond gas for the motorcade vehicles and some overtime expenses.
Trump’s golfing trips outside the United States cost taxpayers a great deal more than his domestic golf vacations because of the enormous footprint generated by presidential foreign travel, with more agencies becoming involved. Dozens of White House staff members may travel with Trump during a weekend to Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster, but that number swells to several hundred on an overseas trip. The White House avoids lengthy motorcades on foreign soil, so Marine helicopters and V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft must be prepositioned using C-17 transports that cost $200,000 an hour to fly, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. A backup Air Force One is sent along as the support plane.
So now the left suddenly cares about excessive president spending on personal travel and leisure? Of course they did with Bush as well; then conveniently took an 8 year hiatus for Obama.
Maybe it is about time Congress put some restrictions on travel for all Presidents? Of course then they would have to explain their own excessive personal travel expenses on the tax payer dime.
Politicians don't give a rats ass about US tax payers; doesn't matter if they have a R or D behind their names. Trump is the king of politicians it seems. Don't worry, I am sure the Dems can find someone to break his total amount spent.
So the right suddenly DOESN'T care about excessove golf and spending on personal travel? Add to that the daily whining about the debt...which suddenly stopped the second trump took office? Weird.
Where did I say I wasn't concerned about it? Unlike some I have been harsh on Presidential and Congressional excessive travel for a very long time.
I am also smart enough to realize that it is a partisan issue; and that outside of both sides complaining what the other does nothing will happen.
All that matters is we are divided; and that is exactly the way the Establishment wants it.
Fair enough, so allow me to rephrase...
The vast majority of the right wing complained about the debt....daily....when Obama was in office, now they are silent.
Obama started out with a sky high deficit, but gradually got it down to 600 billion a year. Trump has driven it back up. In no way at all can we claim that trump and his reublican congress is, "fiscally responsible". The first column represents the fiscal year, followed by the deficit that year in billions. Next is the debt increase by fiscal year, followed by the deficit/GDP. Finally, the events affecting the deficit are cited.
Note, trump said that Obama had never achieved less than 3.4 deficit/GDP....yet another lie.
Trump has driven it back up
If Trump had done nothing but leave Obama's policies in place, the deficits would have returned to over a trillion dollars, per the CBO.
And what policies are those?
I probably shouldn't ask....
probably shouldn't ask
Why are you afraid of CBO budget projections and the laws of 2016?
Which is exactly what they are doing now. So are you saying that trump has done nothing with Obama's policies? We all know that isn't true.
We can play, "shoulda would coulda" all day long, but....lets stick with reality and not blame Obama for things that he didn't do, in an effort to protect trump.
Well, considering you didn't list these policies.
You want me to list every law that effected revenue and spending that was in force in 2016?
Are you going to spend the next few months reading the the US Code and the Code of Federal Regulations?
All you have to do is put up a link. I also don't count deregulation as a decrease in spending.
Unless you mean getting rid of people and departments.
All you have to do is put up a link up a link.
Have fun:
also don't count deregulation as a decrease in spending.
I have no idea what that means. I am talking about what the government actually spends as opposed to what it takes in in revenue.
Unless you mean getting rid of people and departmnets.
I'm talking about what the CBO projected in 2016, before Trump was elected, regarding what the deficits would be the for next decade. Those numbers were based on current laws remaining in place and would result in the deficit hitting a trillion dollars in 2022. In May 2019, after all the changes made to those laws under Trump, the CBO said budget deficits would return to a trillion dollars in 2022.
It's 2019. Any thoughts on that other than STILL blaming Obama almost 3 years after he has left office?
Trump will exceed $1 trillion THIS year, not 2022, as you claim. So in essence what you have done is prove that trumps policies are adding far more to the debt/deficit than he would have had he not changed Obama policies.
Thanks for that, Sean.
So in other words, the trump deregulations did nothing but help the business community bottom line.
Do you have any idea what's going on here?
Whoops!
o in essence what you have done is prove that trumps policies are adding far more to the debt/deficit than he would have had he not changed Obama policies.
No. Try and understand. The deficits would have continued to increase had Trump not changed Obama's policies, and would have reached $1 trillion a year in 2022, under Obama's policies. The same as they are projected to under Trump.
Thanks for that, Sean.
I'm glad I could correct your false beliefs and misstatements of fact.
But trump DID change the policies and will reach 1 trillion in 2019, not 2022. It's basic math Sean.
You say that like its a bad thing. Higher wages and a growing economy are good things in and of themselves, even if Trump hasn't been able to alter the structural deficit problem.
Deficits are increasing because entitlement and interest payments keep going up. The only was the deficit can be addressed is to start grappling with those issues.
Why do you keep saying that.
Per the CBO in May, 2019
We still call for reducing the debt by reducing SPENDING. Cut domestic spending by 60% or more.
It should be the priority of good govt to repeal the 16th amendment and end corporate and individual income taxes, and the Estate Tax. They violate the principles of liberty our nation was founded upon
We need to abolish the Depts of Education, Energy, Health & Human Services, Labor, OSHA, EPA, Transportation, phase out SS & Medicare, abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, abolish the FCC, FDA, FTC, NLRB, return student loan programs back to private lenders, end all Food Stamp programs, Federal welfare, Federal unemployment insurance payments, Obamacare, and a host of other unconstitutional programs. These are all unconstitutional programs that promote a socialist totalitarian state. We need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and take back control of our monetary system.
Taking some of the steps above would reduce our deficit to near zero and reduce the debt by trillions
We need to institute a national sales tax like the Fair Tax proposal, and renegotiate all of our Trade Agreements and associations allowing for a renewed system of tariffs.
We need to remove ourselves from the UN and ask them to relocate to another country, and then sell that high priced property for private development.
We need to sell off some of the 640 million acres of Federal Lands (28% of all land in the US). There are 10's of millions of acres of Federal lands that lie dormant and are not used for anything (I'm not referring to National Parks or Forests). In some states like Nevada, the US Govt is the largest landowner. Use that money to pay down our debt. Selling off this land would provide cash to the govt for debt reduction and would result in massive economic growth.
We need to sell the 10s of thousands of vacant Federal buildings that are costing taxpayers BILLIONS to maintain.
Government estimates suggest there may be 77,000 empty or underutilized buildings across the country. Taxpayers own them, and even vacant, they're expensive. The Office of Management and Budget says these buildings could be costing taxpayers $1.7 billion a year.
We can reduce defense spending by approx 15% through technological advancements and greater use of drones and special forces. This should also include removing the stupid ban on assassinations. While we have closed a number of bases in Europe, we could probably close the remaining bases in Germany without affecting national security.
You mean, "TRUMPS" CBO. You don't really think they are going to give out numbers that show trump is spending cash like it's going out of style do you?
But trump isn't doing that, he has INCREASED spending and lowered overall income of the federal government. Now what happens, Larry, if you increase spending and decrease your income? A 10 year old could figure that one out.
1) That's never going to happen.
2) So keep on spending and reduce even further the feds income? How in the hell do you propose to pay off the debt if you reduce the income of the debtor? You can't, what you are proposing literally makes NO sense at all.
Larry, I cannot even tell you how little that makes sense from even a family of four perspective.
First of all, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have ever tried to reduce spending. One reason I don’t belong to either party
secondly your data is wrong. BOTH revenues and spending are up
Spending on Entitlements and Defense lead the spending
i have long supported as I’ve stated to you previously, replacing the revenue from income taxes with the Fair Tax. Low to lower middle class families would no longer pay taxes including the payroll tax
So you are saying trump did not cut taxes, (mostly for the rich and corporations, I might add)?
Our government, love it or hate it, is funded by TAXES, reducing taxes doesn't mean the fed has more income.
Every time we’ve had a tax cut in this country, revenues have INCREASED
JFK on taxes
“In today’s economy, fiscal prudence and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarges the federal deficit – why reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”
“It is no contradiction – the most important single thing we can do to stimulate investment in today’s economy is to raise consumption by major reduction of individual income tax rates.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”
“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, message to Congress on tax reduction and reform, House Doc. 43, 88th Congress, 1st Session.
Hmm, I find that is not really true. Especially with Trump's cuts to the top.
That's because they have a million other ways to spend it...like new shoes for the baby
I'm with you on that. We have a huge deficit to worry about. Time to start tightening belts and let's start with travel
Agreed. Neither sides seems worried about the deficits/debt once they are in charge.
Agreed again. Take away all of the junket fact finding expeditions that are really vacations, or PR stop offs. I am even against candidates campaigning on the tax payer dime. With the millions that elected federal officials pull in from outside sources they should be able to pay for their own travel/expenses for campaigning.
As for Trump's excesses. He is supposedly rich enough he should at least foot the bill for his air travel and accommodations- when not on government business. That would still leave the taxpayer to foot the secret service travel and accommodations. I would hope that Trump at least lets the secret service stay for free at his resorts?
You're cute. Do you really think he would let hundred of thousand maybe millions of dollars get away?
Couldn't agree more. I have said for years that each candidate should have a budget, "X" number of dollars, no more, on campaigns. 40 million? 50? Just spit balling. That way, every candidate has an equal chance at winning based on what they say, not how many times they can invade my living room....
So now the right suddenly doesn't care about excessive president spending on personal travel and leisure? Of course they didn't with Bush as well; then conveniently spent 8 years of non-stop whining about it for Obama.
I never criticized any president for their vacations or golf including Obama. All presidents are on duty 24/7 and it’s stupid for right or left to make that criticism
Such a complete con job on the American people. Trump not only golfs and vacations more than any President in history but uses his office to promote his businesses for his own profit, then shoves every possible expense for his lavish elitist lifestyle off onto the American taxpayers.
True, trump and his crime family are the biggest welfare queens the US has ever seen.
I actuallt don't mind travel as itis part of the job, to go to other countries for state visits, etc.
What bothers me is his grown adult children going along and acting like royalty. Partying and promoting his business interest.
You noticed that too eh? Yea, every time he visits the Royals, he drags his crime family along so he can "look royal too", with his subjects swarming around him.