From DPVA:
Trump’s Virginia Golf Trips Cost Taxpayers Millions
RICHMOND, VA — Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of Donald Trump’s descent on that escalator to announce his candidacy for president of the United States, an image none of us will soon forget.
In honor of this anniversary, DPVA will spend the week running through some ways the Trump administration has harmed Virginia. Today, we’ll focus on his waste of taxpayer dollars golfing in Virginia at his own golf course.
Despite vowing not to golf as President, Trump has visited his properties nearly 500 times, steering tax dollars towards businesses he owns. Nearly half of those trips have been to golf. Trump National Golf Club in Loudoun County, Virginia is no exception. Trump has visited this golf course 79 times since his inauguration, with taxpayers footing the bill for his transportation to and from the course, his security detail, and more.
It’s no secret that Trump has little interest in actually doing the work of president, and his trips to Trump National speak volumes about his lack of dedication to the job. For example, he spent Memorial Day weekend golfing as the United States reached its 100,000th known death from the coronavirus pandemic. The same time last year, he spent the two days after the tragic Virginia Beach shooting on his Virginia golf course.
In total, the Trump administration has spent over a million dollars of taxpayer funds to finance Trump’s golf trips to Virginia. This fits a pattern of Trump and his family using taxpayer resources to fund their trips at a startling rate. A watchdog group calculated that last fiscal year, the Trump family took more trips that required Secret Service protection than the Obama family took in seven years.
“What is truly disturbing here is the blatant conflict of interest on display as he directs millions of tax dollars into his own businesses, and by extent, his own pocket,” said DPVA Press Secretary Carson Brown. “Donald Trump is using the presidency as an infomercial for his businesses in an obvious case of corruption that should disqualify him from office.”
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