Day 867: Trump is spending two nights in Ireland to see his golf course. It’ll cost American taxpayers millions.
Donald Trump stopped in Ireland Wednesday, for what seemed to be no other reason than to visit his golf course.
The White House hurriedly added a brief diplomatic meeting with the Irish prime minister after the trip was already planned, but there was no hiding from the fact why Trump was in the country.
The White House had started planning the golfing excursion weeks before asking for a meeting with Varadkar. At first, Trump officials insisted on holding the meeting at Doonbeg. Varadkar’s office, though, balked and insisted on meeting someplace not on Trump property, such as a historic castle nearby. In the end, they settled on the airport, where Trump flew in on Air Force One from England.
Varadkar greeted Trump at the base of the stairs at 4:55 p.m., and Trump walked out of the airport terminal building, meeting concluded, at 6 p.m. He was airborne on Marine One four minutes later.
Trump was explicitly asked whether he was visiting solely to see his golf course. Incredibly, he cited a relationship with the United Kingdom as the reason for the trip.
Except Ireland isn’t in the United Kingdom and hasn’t been for a century.
He also rambled about Brexit — which Ireland isn’t a part of as they aren’t in the “Br” part of Brexit — and border walls.
Trump quickly made his way to his golf course where the White House refused to confirm or deny whether he played a round.
The trip is costing American taxpayers an exorbitant amount money, including $1 million for limousines.
They are, by all accounts, wheels to die for. JP Ward & Sons, an Irish funeral services home, rents out its fleet of Mercedes E-Class limousines not just to mourners but to anyone who wants to travel in style.
A killer price tag has not deterred the latest customer: the White House. It is so keen to use the vehicles for Donald Trump’s two-day visit to Ireland that it is spending nearly $1m (£788,000) of US taxpayers’ money to rent them.
The Trump administration paid the family-owned firm based in Bray, County Wicklow, $935,033 in four tranches, according to USASpending.gov, an official portal that records federal government spending.
The state department did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation that the outlay was to rent four vehicles, which would work out at $233,748 per vehicle.
Trump was so intent on making the trip that he’s spending Wednesday in Ireland, flying to Normandy on Thursday for D-Day celebrations, and flying back to his Irish resort Thursday where he’ll play golf, according to The Guardian.
Marine helicopters are extensively used when presidents travel abroad. To position them ahead of time requires quite a bit of work using transport aircraft. Those aircraft cost $200,000 per hour to operate, per HuffPost. In addition, Air Force One is costly to operate (over $200,000 for every hour in the air) and a back-up plane must be at the ready wherever Air Force One goes.
When it’s all said and done, Trump will spend many millions of taxpayer dollars to sleep and play golf at his resort in Ireland for two nights.
867 days in, 595 to go
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