The staggering cost to US taxpayers of Donald Trump's golf trips has been revealed, as so had the 78-year-old's sketchy relationship with the rules of his beloved pastime.
Trump swept to victory in the presidential election last November, earning a second term in the Oval Office four years after being ousted by Joe Biden.
A keen golfer and the owner of several courses around the world, Trump's golf excursions were a controversial topic during his first spell in the White House.
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A new report has revealed that Trump played golf on 13 of his first 48 days back on office, and that his trips to Florida to hit the links has come at a cost of $18 million to taxpayers.
And in his 2019 book Commander in Cheat, former longtime Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly detailed the staggering extent to which the 45th and 47th president cheats when he's on the course.
“I’ve always said golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a guy,” Reilly said during an appearance on Deadline White House to promote the book. “And what it reveals about this guy is that he cannot lose. He has to win and he will do anything to cheat.”
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"And I know because I played golf with him and he took seven mulligans. He took a 'give me chip-in.' I’ve never even heard of a 'give me chip-in.'"
Reilly also claimed Trump has fraudulently accumulated several championship trophies and claimed victory in numerous wagers.
“What he does [is] he just calls in and goes, ‘I usually beat that guy, give me the trophy,’” he alleged.
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“And I know this because when I play with him, he goes, ‘You know what I do to win these championships, don’t ya?’ and I go, ‘Please tell me. Give it to me.’ And he goes, ‘Anytime I buy a new course, I play the first round all by myself and then I declare myself the club champion.' So that’s what kind of guy this is.
“One time in L.A. he was playing $50 a hole with these three guys. He hits it in the pond. They see the splash. By the time they get there, [the ball’s] in the middle of the fairway, and they’re like, ‘What the f— Donald,’ and then he goes, ‘It must have been the tide.’"
Topics: Golf
Ryan Baldi