Trump Has Already Spent 30 Percent of His Days as President at Trump Properties

This weekend’s Scottish golf trip comes after scores of taxpayer-supported stateside hotel and resort visits.

Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

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If nothing else, President Donald Trump seems to know how to relax. After yet another week of pissing off international allies, the New York Times reports that he’s spending the weekend at Trump Turnberry, his luxury resort in Scotland, which means that he’s now spent 169 days of his presidency, or about 30 percent of days, hanging out at his branded properties—all at a staggering cost to U.S. taxpayers.

Here’s a graphic from the New York Times’ Karen Yourish:

It’s no surprise that Mar-a-Lago tops the list, with Trump having paid 72 visits to his Palm Beach resort since taking office. Those trips aren’t cheap: in 2017 alone, taxpaying Americans shelled out more than $6.6 million in airfare alone, not including the costs of protection from Secret Service and Coast Guard officers. As a candidate and private citizen, Trump regularly berated President Barack Obama for his golf and vacation habits.

In addition to the U.S. government’s expenses, Scottish police have estimated security for Trump’s weekend golf visit could involve 5,000 police officers, and cost U.K. taxpayers $6.6 million.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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