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Since becoming a private citizen, former U.S. President Donald Trump continues to golf a lot at his private courses — and it seems he’s not the only one.
Trump has seen his golf-related income more than double since leaving the White House in January 2021, according to a Sportico analysis of Federal Election Commission filings. It found the former president’s earnings from his golf portfolio topped $555 million between Jan. 2022 and April 14, 2023, accounting for about half his total $1.2 billion income.
By comparison, Trump claimed $237 million from his courses in 2020, his last year in the White House, and $224 million in 2018, when he was halfway through his presidency.
Most of Trump’s golf-related earnings came from his course in Doral, Miami, followed by courses in Turnberry, Scotland, and Bedminster, N.J.
These earnings don’t simply cover people coming to play golf at Trump courses. Trump’s income from these courses also includes assets from ownership, management or licensing interests at his 17 golf courses, the report notes.
Trump has also had a few Saudi-backed LIV Golf events at his courses in Florida and New Jersey, which likely contributed to the earnings increase. Several lawmakers have been critical of LIV Golf for its close ties to Saudi Arabia, a country that has been accused of multiple human rights violations.
Plus, the operating revenues for golf clubs jumped between 12% and 18% in 2021, according to the Club Management Association of America, which has also helped make golfing more lucrative.
From the archives (August 2022): Trump tells golfers to ‘take the money’ from LIV Golf or ‘pay a big price’
Representatives for Donald Trump did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment on this story.
The increase in earnings for Trump golf courses comes amid a series of legal problems for the former president. Trump was charged in June and faces 37 criminal counts as part of classified documents case, and he was indicted in March for his role in hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) and Karen McDougal. Trump also said this week that he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 probe.
Trump is also running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and he is currently polling ahead of other candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott.
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