Trump has expensive hobby that has taken up 'nearly 1/3 of time in White House' so far

Donald Trump has devoted a significant portion of his time to one particular pastime since becoming President of the United States, according to a campaign group, and it’s not politics.

As per data from the Trump Golf Track website, the president has allegedly spent 29% of his days since re-entering the White House on the golf course. According to Huffpost, Trump’s golfing habit cost a staggering $10.7million (£8,486,598) in his first month back in office.

This figure was derived from a 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office, which examined the expenses associated with Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago.

The report disclosed that each trip cost taxpayers $3,383,250 (£2,683,245). HuffPost reported that since resuming presidency on January 20, Trump has embarked on a golfing trip every weekend.

It also stated that he played golf at his own properties on nine of his first 30 days in office. Given that the report’s figures are based on 2017 costs, the actual expenses in today’s terms are likely even higher.

Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said: “It’s clear that when the Trump administration considers the definition of corruption and wasteful spending, it doesn’t count spending that ends up in the president’s pockets. By visiting his for-profit businesses roughly a third of his days in office, Trump is directing government spending to follow him there, and profiting off the trip.”

The controversy surrounding Trump’s golf expenditures has migrated to social media platform X where the group Republicans Against Trump highlighted: “According to the Trump Golf Tracker, Donald Trump has spent 27% of his presidency golfing so far.” This figure is thought to have increased since the post was shared.

With an impressive 1.6million views, 57,000 likes, 4,100 comments and 6,100 retweets at the time of writing, the tweet attracted attention on X. Responses were split; many showed support for Trump’s leisurely pursuits as a result of his hectic schedle.

However, detractors voiced their opposition. One individual commented: “Difference is doesn’t sleep works 24×7 and gets deals done on the course in which he plays a sub 3 hr round…time well spent.”

Another user countered fiercely: “The guy works more in a year than you do in a decade.” A supporter highlighted the President’s work ethic, remarking: “Considering he works 20 hours a day 7 days a week, I’d say that’s pretty good! Just sayin…”

In agreement, a fervent Trump enthusiast stated: “And still got more done than Biden did in four years. He is King Trump.” However, not everyone shared this sentiment.

Critics were quick to voice their opinions with comments such as “he’s such an embarrassment”, “about as expected like last term but people I guess casually forgot that” and even taking a jab at his sports skills with “adding insult to injury is that he is complete trash at golf too, further reducing the bang-for-taxpayer-buck.”

The Express has reached out to the President’s team for a statement.