Donald Trump's £111m Golf Bill: Taxpayers Fume as President Hits the Greens During Iran War

President Donald Trump was photographed leaving his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday 22 March, marking his 101st round since returning to the White House in January 2025 as the war in Iran nears its one-month anniversary. Taxpayers have reportedly covered an estimated £111 million for these outings, according to the golf-tracking website didtrumpgolftoday.com, with social media erupting over the motorcade's 10 to 15 security vehicles accompanying the 79-year-old leader onto the course.

Trump has long been scrutinised for his golf habit. During his first term, a 2019 Government Accountability Office report estimated that just four trips cost millions for Air Force One flights, Secret Service protection and local law enforcement.

Extrapolating from that data, HuffPost's analysis put the full first-term tally at £120 million. With Trump logging golf on 101 of 421 days, or 23.7% of his presidency, the second-term figure has climbed to around £111 million, based on an average of £1.4 million per round.

Donald Trump Plays Golf Amid Iran War Backlash

The latest sighting came amid a conflict that has already claimed American lives. Trump announced the strikes dubbed Operation Epic Fury from a makeshift situation room at his Mar-a-Lago estate on 23 February, watching B-2 bombers hit Iranian targets alongside advisers.

By Saturday 21 March, Trump was back on the links in West Palm Beach, hours before a closed-door MAGA Inc fundraiser at the same property. California Governor Gavin Newsom criticised him earlier this month after similar photos emerged from Trump National Doral in Miami. 'While our troops are in harm's way, the commander-in-chief golfs,' Newsom posted on X.

Public anger boiled over online. 'The gas to fuel the motorcade is being paid for by the American taxpayers,' one X user wrote, capturing the prevailing sentiment.

Another user estimated it at 'another $3 million of our tax dollars.' A third fumed, 'And how much is it costing the American taxpayers for Trump's cheating at golf vacation in Florida?' These complaints are not isolated.

Last July, a £480,000 invoice surfaced for Secret Service golf carts and portable toilets at Trump's Bedminster course in New Jersey. Trips to his Turnberry resort in Scotland have cost around £7.7 million each, according to HuffPost.

Trump owns 15 courses worldwide and claims at least 20 club championships across them. He boasts a 2.8 handicap with the USGA improbably low for a man of his age and swing. Videos from Turnberry show caddies retrieving his ball from the cup unacknowledged, or replacing it in better lies.

He walks off greens without tapping in, yet the results remain consistent. That reliability extends off the course as well, with golf providing a break from the grind of war briefings and midterm strategising.

Taxpayer Costs Mount as Trump Sticks to the Fairways

Projections make grim reading. At the current pace, second-term golf expenses could exceed £240 million by 2029, dwarfing the first term's £120 million. Mar-a-Lago visits alone—16 in 2025—cost around £2.7 million each, including Air Force One flights from Joint Base Andrews to Palm Beach International and Coast Guard patrols.

Bedminster trips add £880,000 each. Trump broke a 2016 campaign promise not to golf as president within days of his first inauguration, racking up 293 outings by 2021.

Defenders point out precedents. Barack Obama played mostly at Andrews Air Force Base, minimising costs. Joe Biden's Delaware weekends use smaller jets.

But Trump's properties are the destinations, raising questions about personal profit. The Secret Service books rooms and carts at rack rates, pumping money into Trump Organization coffers.

For now, the motorcades continue. Trump has spent seven of nine 2026 weekends so far at Mar-a-Lago, blending war oversight with the game he loves. The optics sting, particularly as the transfer of fallen soldiers takes place on US soil.