Trump forced caddie to hang from back of golf cart as he raced it across the course for his weekend 'exercise'
President Donald J. Trump, on Sunday, July 12, was pictured racing a golf cart across the fairways of his Virginia golf course as his caddie appeared "to be holding on to his dear life" as he clung to the vehicle at the back. Although there appeared to be enough room for two on the golf cart, Trump reportedly forced the caddie to cling on the back of the cart as the president floored it, according to the Daily Mail.
Trump, hours before taking to the course, had tweeted that playing golf was "my exercise" despite using an electric golf cart to travel between each shot. Trump, on Sunday morning, had tweeted: "My 'exercise' is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf."
Shortly after pictures and clips of him driving at the golf course emerged, NBC White House Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, in a tweet, wrote: "The course is the only place he gets to drive himself." A video released by NBC showed Trump driving a golf cart at speed across the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Reports state that the president spent both weekend days playing at the golf course, which is nearly half an hour's drive from the White House. The president, before hitting the links, had tweeted defending his golf play, writing he hets "a lot of work done" on the course too.
Trump was reportedly met by a group of protesters at the golf link, where one of them was dressed as the grim reaper with a sign reading "137K," referencing to the coronavirus deaths in the United States. The president's golf trip marked his 276th visit to a golf course in his 1,270 days as president, amounting to 1 trip every 5 days.
Trump's penchant for golfing is well-known to the world, and although he often chastized his predecessor Barack Obama for playing golf while in office, the Republican himself has spent at least 276 days at a visit to a golf course in his 1,270 days as president. A CNN report released earlier this year, in January, had stated that the president also spent 333 days as of January 1, at a Trump property as president.
Trump, during a 2016 campaign stop in New Hampshire, had slammed Obama for playing golf. "I mean he's played more golf than most people on the PGA Tour, this guy," he said of the former president. "What is it, over 300 rounds? Hey, look, it's good. Golf is fine. But always play with leaders of countries and people that can help us! Don't play with your friends all the time." According to Mark Knoller of CBS News, Obama had played 333 rounds of golf during his eight years in office.
The president, during a Christmas Eve call with US service members last year, had stated that he "pretty much" works at Mar-a-Lago too. However, Trump has been known to mix business with pleasure at his golf properties and a report of the president's trips to his properties has raised questions about the federal government spending money at his properties.
A report released in 2019 stated that Trump's golf hobby has cost American taxpayers an estimated $115 million in travel and security expenses. The amount is equivalent to nearly 287 years of presidential salary, which Trump frequently mentions he does not take. Of that amount, hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars have gone into his own cash registers as the White House staff, Secret Service agents and other administration officials generally stay and eat at his hotels and golf courses.