1/2 Mil+ for Trump’s Leisure? Where Should Your Tax Dollars Go?
While DOGE guts school lunch programs and local farming, taxpayers are forced to fund Trump’s lavish golf trips and private business enrichment.
Since his inauguration on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump’s taxpayer-funded leisure travel has skyrocketed. The sheer expense of these trips is astonishing, even when we generously underestimate the numbers.
Over the course of his second term, Trump’s luxury travel and private property diplomacy are projected to cost taxpayers nearly $550 million. To put that into perspective, this amount is more than enough to fund essential child nutrition programs that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has gutted—programs that provide fresh, healthy, locally grown food to schoolchildren while supporting struggling local farmers.
This isn’t just wasteful. It’s obscene. And the worst part? The real costs are likely much higher than what we’re about to show you.
Let’s break it down.
Mar-a-Lago Mania
No president in modern history has spent so much time at their personal properties while in office. During Trump’s first term, he made 100 visits to Mar-a-Lago and jaw-dropping 500 trips overall to all Trump-owned properties. That’s an average of one visit to Mar-a-Lago approximately every 15 days and one trip to a Trump property every 3 days.
But here’s the kicker: During the first nine weeks of his second term, Trump has been traveling to Mar-a-Lago almost every weekend— a dramatically increased pace compared to his first term.
Yet, to be generous and avoid exaggeration, our calculations assume he will average just one trip every two weeks over the next four years. That’s still a staggering 104 trips over four years. And every single one of these trips funnels taxpayer money directly into Trump’s pockets.
But here’s the thing: Our estimate completely ignores the other Trump properties. We’re only counting Mar-a-Lago, which he visited 100 times during his first term. What about the other 400 visits to his properties? We’re generously pretending they don’t exist. The actual cost to taxpayers? Unknown, but almost certainly tens or hundreds of millions more.
And we’re still being generous. Here’s how just one trip to Mar-a-Lago shakes out:
One Trip to Mar-a-Lago Breakdown:
What you’re looking at is the cost of one trip to Mar-a-Lago.
Total Cost Per Trip: $2.4 million.
Amount Going Directly to Trump’s Businesses: $400,000 per trip (Approximately 17%).
Total Cost Over 4 Years Assuming He Visits Every 2 Weeks: $353.6 million.
And let’s be clear: This estimate of $1.2 million per trip for Air Force One is a conservative number based on GAO-reported costs, including support aircraft and additional security logistics.
Even by giving Trump the benefit of the doubt, the cost of these trips alone is more than the annual budget of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). But we’re just getting started.
See our reporting here about the Executive Order in which Trump cut seven agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services:
Sporting Events for a Billionaire’s Ego
But for 45/47, it isn’t just about golf. While that may be his favorite pursuit, he has a well-documented obsession with attending major sporting events—on the taxpayers’ dime.
In the first few weeks of 2025, Trump attended the Super Bowl—the first sitting president to do so—costing taxpayers approximately $20 million. And he left at halftime. (Gee, wonder why?)
This was immediately followed by the Daytona 500, which was rained out but still cost taxpayers another $5 million. He’s also scheduled to attend the NCAA wrestling championship and has a habit of attending UFC events.
But it doesn’t stop there. Trump has made it clear he plans to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. And, of course, taxpayers will be footing the bill.
Here's how much these events are expected to cost.
Sports Events Breakdown:
These numbers aren’t just absurd. They’re offensive.
Total Cost of Sporting Events Over 4 Years: $185 million.
Purpose: Pure leisure and photo ops, benefiting no one but Trump’s ego.
And here’s the kicker: These estimates are still conservative. We only counted one UFC event per year, even though Trump attends them far more frequently. And we generously assumed he’d only visit the World Cup and Olympics once, despite them being multi-day, multi-venue events.
Diplomatic Meetings at Private Properties (And a Glaring Lack of Transparency)
While most presidents host foreign leaders at the White House or Camp David—places already funded and secured by taxpayers—Trump prefers to use his own properties, where taxpayers literally pay Trump’s businesses for the privilege.
These are the documented instances from his first term:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (February 2017).
Chinese President Xi Jinping (April 2017).
Caribbean Leaders (March 2019).
And those are just the meetings we know about.
Lack of Transparency & Potential Loopholes:
Diplomatic meetings outside official government properties are frequently underreported or unrecorded.
FOIA requests related to Trump’s private property meetings are routinely denied, delayed, or heavily redacted.
Many more meetings have likely occurred that we simply don’t know about.
Estimated Cost of These Meetings: $10.8 million.
And that’s a conservative estimate based on GAO reporting.
These expenses relate to transportation, accommodations, and costs for his secret service detail, plus whatever amenities he provides to his guests. They are all charged to the taxpayer.
Additionally, the local police and other agencies must provide costly security efforts, and teams must be sent ahead to secure the property. Meanwhile, Camp David and the White House— where Presidents have entertained diplomats and dignitaries for generations— are already secured and paid for and sit unused.
And who rakes in the taxpayers’ dollars? The Trump empire.
Check out our reporting on Trump’s foreign policy efforts:
Total Estimated Cost of Trump's Luxury Travel (4 Years)
Now, let’s put it all together.
Overall Cost Summary (2025-2029):
The numbers are undeniable.
Mar-a-Lago Trips: $353.6 million.
Sporting Events: $185 million.
Diplomatic Meetings: $10.8 million.
Total Estimated Cost: $549.4 million.
The Program That Could Have Been Saved
Trump’s obscene travel expenses could have almost entirely covered the $660 million Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), which provided fresh, healthy, locally grown food to children while supporting small farmers. But thanks to DOGE cuts, that program is dead.
And Trump’s extravagant taxpayer-funded lifestyle? Alive and well.
How many programs decimated by DOGE could be saved just with the waste of Trump’s entertainment? Meals on Wheels? School Lunch? If we included all of his travels charged to the American people, could we continue to fund veterans’ services? Revive our gutted Parks Service (which incidentally brings in much more than it spends)?
Final Thoughts
These numbers are generous, conservative, and intentionally underestimated. The actual cost is almost certainly far higher.
But here’s the real question: Why can’t the “billionaire” president pay for his own travel like the rest of us? And why are we gutting programs that help people while he lives like a king on our dime?
We’re talking about feeding children, supporting farmers, and keeping vital community programs alive. Instead, that money is being burned on golf trips, sporting events, and luxury accommodations—lining Trump’s own pockets in the process.
If DOGE and Musk truly want to eliminate waste and fraud, they should start with Trump’s taxpayer-funded vacations and self-enrichment schemes.
But they won’t. Because the real goal isn’t efficiency—it’s cutting services for everyday Americans while protecting the powerful.
It’s up to us to demand accountability. It’s time to expose the truth and call out the hypocrisy. We deserve better than a president who treats taxpayer money like his personal piggy bank. And we deserve a country where our money funds the services Americans need.
Get both of those wealthy wannabe kings far away from our government and our treasury. We don't need DOGE. We need a class war.
Call to Action:
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Bibliography:
Date, S.V. (2025, March 8). Trump Golf Weekends’ Cost To Taxpayers Hits $18.2 Million. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-golf18-million_n_67cb892fe4b02f3ad1f4b2bb
Rogoway, T. (2021, October 1). Here Is What The VC-25A 'Air Force One' Jets Now Cost Per Hour To Fly. The War Zone. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/45066/here-is-what-the-vc-25a-air-force-one-jets-now-cost-per-hour-to-fly
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. (2025, March 10). Trump’s 500 Visits To Trump Properties. CREW. https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-500-visits-trump-properties/
Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, March 19). List of Presidential Trips Made by Donald Trump (2025). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidential_trips_made_by_Donald_Trump_(2025)
Borden, K. (2025, March 12). USDA Terminates Local Food for Schools Program, Impacting Schools and Farmers. Manistee News Advocate. https://www.manisteenews.com/news/article/manistee-county-food-service-director-reacts-usda-20227612.php
Government Accountability Office. (2019, January). Presidential Travel: Secret Service and DOD Need to Ensure That Expenditure Reports Are Prepared and Submitted to Congress. GAO-19-178. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-178
Price, M. L., & Miller, Z. (2025, February 8). Trump to attend the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/trump-attends-super-bowl-ae879e4f0a905b103e9059245f2887e2
Freking, K. (2025, February 16). Trump attends NASCAR's Daytona 500. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/trump-nascar-daytona-500-sports-20a1f0a75207ec57dfa4c58aa3934875
Reuters Staff. (2025, February 9). Trump attends Super Bowl with a complicated NFL relationship. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-heads-super-bowl-with-complicated-nfl-relationship-2025-02-09/
Reuters Staff. (2025, February 16). Trump kicks off Daytona 500 with limo lap. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/idUSRTS32DXI/
People who don't see this are choosing not too.....
My GOD!! Just when you think I can't POSSIBLY HATE HIM ANY MORE THAN I DO now....... 🖕