President Donald Trump started his Monday off with his mundane golf course work-cation routine at his Florida resort-style vacation property in Mar-a-Lago that he nicknamed the “winter White House.”
On Tuesday, Trump was back on the links again – this time celebrating the year-end with a trip to his International Golf Club in West Palm Beach for the 12th time during his Florida work-vacation.
According to CNN’s scorecard, the President has spent at least 252 days at a Trump golf club and 333 days at a Trump property during his four-year term.
During 2019 alone, Trump has spent at least 86 days golfing – these numbers incorporate the days lost to the Trump Administration due to the government shut-down and resulting late start of the fiscal year.
His golf excursions have included, but are not limited to, work-vacations at his National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia; downtime at his Bedminister, New Jersey golf club; and international get-aways to the Trump International in Doonbeg, Ireland. Trump also has routinely visited his private golf resort in Miami, located in the northeastern foot of Miami.
Trump even purposed hosting the 2020 G-7 Summit at the Trump National Doral, touting that the location was ideal – free, beautiful and chock full of amenities in the convenient location of northeastern Miami. However, he chose not to host the Summit there, after severe bipartisan ridicule and the stark realization that the endeavor would not prove profitable for either him or the Administration. Trump had explained that he lost a substantial amount of money and that the Trump Administration has not turned a profit, so he opted out and left world leaders the task of choosing the venue.
Trump is one of many U.S. Presidents that possesses a passion for the golf sport – but he is the only one who publicly and frequently criticized former U.S. President Barack Obama for his love of the game and paid golf work-vacations.
“I mean he’s played more golf than most people on the P.G.A. Tour, this guy,” Trump said during a 2016 campaign stop in New Hampshire. “What is it, over 300 rounds? Hey, look, it’s good. Golf is fine. But always play with leaders of countries and people that can help us! Don’t play with your friends all the time.”
Obama played 333 rounds of golf during his eight-year presidential term, according to CBS News, who keeps detailed accounts and statistics of U.S. presidencies.
Trump has not been to the White House since Dec. 22.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has been to a Trump-owned or Trump-branded property on three out of every ten days. This fraction means that of the 1,075 days of Trump’s presidential term, he has visited either Mar-a-Lago or a Trump-branded resort on 331 days, which accounts to 31 percent of his time in office – or more specifically, Trump has spent one out of every five days at one of his golf clubs in 2019.
Trump spent half of New Year’s Eve at his vacation property in Mar-a-Lago – which ups the number to 117 days spent on a Trump-property, the same amount of time he spent at Trump-brand properties in 2017.
During a telephone call with U.S. service members on Christmas Eve, the service members asked Trump to describe his holiday plans, to which Trump retorted, “I’m at a place called Mar-a-Lago, we call it the southern White House,” he stated “I really pretty much work. That’s what I like to do.”
Upon CBS New’s release of these surprising figures, Trump has come under criticism from 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, such as Amy Klobuchar, who jeered at Trump for his love of the game:
The real-estate tycoon also spent a considerable amount of time focusing on golfing and his properties in 2019 when the Trump family listed the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. with J.L.L. Real Estate, after Republican criticism over his 2020 G-7 Doral Summit location proposition.
Though Trump frequently cast criticism over the price of Obama’s golf excursions, the President’s 31 out of 100 percent of his presidential term time spent at Trump-resort or Trump-branded properties raises bipartisan criticism over the federal government spending money at his signature properties.
