It’s been 61 days since President Donald Trump promised that he would end the war in Ukraine on “day one” of his new administration, and the war is still going strong. Shadow president Elon Musk and his DOGE boys are upending Washington, laying waste to federal agencies and deploying law enforcement to break into the nonprofit Institute of Peace. Consumer confidence is in the toilet, inflation is threatening a resurgence, and the country is possibly headed for a self-inflicted recession. But never fear! The president will be hard at work this weekend, forcing taxpayers to subsidize his New Jersey golf club while he works on his backswing.
Trump’s official schedule for Saturday involves spending the day at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster until around 5:45 pm, at which point he will fly off to Philly to catch the NCAA wrestling championships.
This will be the seventh weekend, or 17th day of Trump’s second presidency, spent golfing at one of his own clubs, more than a quarter of his time in office. Earlier this month, HuffPost calculated that the golf outings had already cost taxpayers more than $18 million, much of which went directly into Trump’s own company coffers. The outlet also suggested Trump was on track to exceed the $151 million he spent during his first term, when he made 428 visits to a Trump Organization property and played an estimated 261 rounds of golf.
Clearly all that hard work is paying off! Last Sunday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he’d won his third consecutive championship at his golf club in Palm Beach:
“I just won the Golf Club Championship, probably my last, at Trump International Golf Club, in Palm Beach County, Florida. Such a great honor! The awards dinner is tonight, at the Club. I want to thank the wonderful Golf Staff, and all of the many fantastic golfers, that participated in the even. Such fun!”
Of course, critics note that Trump only wins golf tournaments when they’re held at his own clubs. He’s notorious for cheating. Last year, for instance, he boasted about winning the senior tournament in West Palm Beach even though he didn’t play the first round of the event.
In 2019, the sportswriter Rick Reilly wrote in his 2019 book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump:
“Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf. He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs. At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: ‘Pelé.‘ ”
Trump will cap off his leisurely Saturday by flying at taxpayer expense to Philadelphia to attend the NCAA wrestling tournament, one of his favorite sporting events. Fox News reports he will be joined by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan is the former Ohio State University assistant wrestling coach who has famously been accused of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse allegations against a team doctor.
Trump clearly invited Jordan to join him to troll the libs. After all, the straight-laced and ultra-religious Jordan has never been known as the life of the party. (“He is wound tighter than a baseball,” former House Speaker John Boehner and fellow Ohio Republican once told the Washington Post.) But the notorious House brawler has endeared himself to Trump with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and vigorous impeachment defense. Trump may not enjoy Jordan’s humorless presence, but he will no doubt enjoy the joke of his attendance.
