People have asked whether President Donald Trump is a ‘comedian’ after learning just how much he spends on one thing, and it has nothing to do with his job in office
Critics have asked whether Donald Trump is ‘joking’ and branded him the ‘dumbest’ president after learning how he spent millions of dollars. Trump is no stranger to criticism – his administration came under fire earlier this week after Department of Homeland Security moved to ban Havard from enrolling foreign students.
This is just one in a list of controversies surrounding the government since Trump was inaugurated for a second time back in January. The 78-year-old also found himself in a feud with Bruce Springsteen after the musician described the administration “corrupt” and “incompetent.” This week, Trump faced fresh criticism when he took to X, sharing a video of his golf swing, on Wednesday (May 21).
Trump’s clip prompted some to question just how much the president had spent on golf over the first four months of his second term. One person turned to Grok – the AI tool introduced to the social media platform under the president’s senior advisor and ally, Elon Musk – for answers.
“Hey @grok Estimate how much money American taxpayers have spent for Trump to play golf while he was president,” the user asked.
Another asked: “Is this really the job of a president? Seriously?”
Meanwhile a third chimed in: “I think Donald Trump is not a president. He is a good comedian?”
While Grok places Trump’s estimated total golf spend so far at $151.5million, the real figure was thought to be closer to $24million as of April 2025.
According to the official White House schedule, Trump had spent eight consecutive weekends golfing at his mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida by that point.
While the president’s visits to Mar-a-Lago are an out-of-pocket expense, the bill for the necessary protection services for him and his family is footed by taxpayers. His businesses charge for housing Secret Service employees at his hotels and other properties while Trump visits and plays golf.
A 2019 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found each of President Trump’s trips during his first term cost approximately $3.4million.
These figures include the price of using Air Force One and an additional freight aircraft for transporting the presidential motorcade from Washington DC to Palm Beach International Airport.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett for Texas’s 30th congressional district criticised the president last month, estimating his golf trips had cost the taxpayer an even more impressive $26million as of the end of March.
At a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee hearing on the use of federal buildings, she said: “What we need to light on fire are Trump’s tariffs…if we are going to talk about efficiency and worry about some solar paneled whatevers, let’s talk about the fact that as of March 31, Trump’s golfing has cost us approximately $26 million.”
In response to the Twitter post, another critic shared an image of Trump with his arms folded with text overlaid reading: “Weakest president in modern times, coward in chief.”
Another branded the president the “dumbest, sleaziest, most thin-skinned” president to date.
However, not everyone was so critical. “It’s wild how people act like there’s some perfect ‘presidential handbook’ for how a leader should condone [sic] himself,” one person wrote.
“He’s real, he’s funny, and most importantly, he’s not trying to sell us some scripted, perfect politician act. Why would I regret voting for authenticity?” (The Mirror with headline rejigged)