As former President Donald Trump prepares to jet off to Scotland, U.S. During his time here, he’ll mainly be focused on visiting his own golf properties—most notably his famed Turnberry and Menie resorts. This visit raises questions regarding the use of taxpayer funds for his golfing outings and the broader implications of his business interests while in office.
In fact, since his inauguration in 2017, Trump has made ten trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. His last trip as of this writing was the first week of May. Throughout these trips, he regularly participated in recreation, including golf. His weekend retreats to his Bedminster golf resort have captured attention and fostered criticism appropriate for an autocrat.
The financial ramifications of Trump’s golfing excursions are profound. Taxpayers have already forked over at least $34 million on his golfing trips since he became president. The Government Accountability Office report examined just four of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago in 2017. The analysis calculated the total cost of these needless excursions to be $13.6 million. This comes out to about $3.4 million per clinic visit. This immense sum has led to criticism from a variety of conservative groups concerned about federal spending.
Getting ready for his own trip to Scotland, Gov. In the meantime, the U.S. administration’s secrecy regarding Trump’s itinerary has shocked the Scottish police force. Whether for security or public safety, these visits demand focused energy and attention. Many advocates view this lack of attention as part of a broader disturbing trend.
While he’s in Scotland, Trump intends to meet with other world, and especially, US political leaders. He intends to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and John Swinney, Scotland’s First Minister. These meetings would have had two-fold purposes: political engagement and pushing his business interests in the region.
Moreover, unlike recent previous presidents, such as Obama and Bush, Trump’s visit is met with an uncivilized cost for security costs. According to reports, the Secret Service and the State Department have already spent more than $1.1 million on this particular excursion. Such expenditures have led to ongoing discussions about the appropriateness of using public funds for a former president’s personal business interests.
This trip was hardly the first time Trump has blended business with politics. In 2018, he made time for a weekend round of golf on the way to meet then-Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. This decision took that blurring a step further, mixing his work as president and his personal business interests.
In addition to visiting Turnberry and Menie, Trump is expected to open a new golf course at his resort along Scotland’s North Sea coast, near Aberdeen. This course will pay tribute to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. More than that, it showcases his profound personal connection to the area.
Perhaps the strongest wave of critics claim that Trump’s dozens of golfing weekends symbolize a larger trend of putting personal pleasure above public duty. Specifically, they draw attention to the obscene amounts of money spent on security and travel. This shows the extensive lengths the administration has gone to in order to obscure the line between public service and private profit.
All the while, Trump deftly plays the long-game, bending both public perception and taxpayer scrutiny to his favor. His visit to Scotland will raise new questions about the cost of his golfing junkets and if government money should be spent to enrich him personally.
“winter White House” – Donald Trump, implicitly referenced in www.palmbeachpost.com