In May this year, US President Donald Trump made what was surely one of his more unusual claims: that physical activity and exercise depletes a person’s energy and shortens their life span.
According to purchase orders obtained by USA Today, the Secret Service has spent approximately $144,975 (£107,614) on golf cart rentals since January this year, with almost $7,500 (£5,600) set aside for Trump’s Thanksgiving weekend alone.
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Trump spent five days on the golf course during his Thanksgiving weekend, and claimed he was playing golf “quickly” with Tiger Woods.
During his presidency so far, Trump has spent 81 days at golf properties around the US, according to an NBC tracker. This is despite the President repeatedly berating his predecessor, Barack Obama, for golfing instead of working.
And the stats don’t look good for the incumbent; Trump is currently in the 12th month of his presidency and has golfed 35 separate times. By the 12th month of Obama’s reign, the former president had golfed 24 times, reports Politifact.
The news of such lavish expenditure on golf carts created a stir on Twitter, where users expressed amusement, anger and confusion at the use of government funds:
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