Donald Trump is wasting taxpayers’ money on golf

As a concerned taxpayer, I find it deeply troubling that President Trump’s recent golf trips — particularly his five-day visit to Scotland — are being billed as “working trips” while funneling millions of public dollars into his own golf course properties.

According to recent reports, this latest excursion is expected to cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $9.7 million, with expenses covering Air Force One flights, Secret Service overtime, and the transport of motorcade vehicles and helicopters. All this while the president stays at and promotes his own resorts, including Turnberry and the newly opened MacLeod Course in Aberdeen.

This isn’t an isolated incident. During his first term, Trump’s golf outings racked up over $151 million in taxpayer-funded travel and security costs, with 293 days spent at his own resorts. The ethical implications are staggering. When the president profits from government-funded travel to his own businesses, it blurs the line between public service and private gain.

Even more ironic is that Trump once criticized President Obama for golfing while in office, claiming he wouldn’t have time for such leisure. Yet here we are, with Trump having played hundreds of rounds and billing the public for the privilege.

Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability — not extravagant bills that benefit the president’s personal brand. If this is what “efficiency” looks like, perhaps it’s time we redefine the term.

— Thomas Kammer, Longmont