Taxpayers reportedly shelled out $2.4 million to fund Trump's golf visits in New Jersey

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Taxpayers paid a whopping $2.4 million for former President Donald Trump's golf outings in New Jersey.

About $1.9 million of that total went to hotel accommodations for Trump's Secret Service agents.

The $2.4 million sum does not include the $142,000/hour Air Force One rides.

By Yelena Dzhanova

New Jersey taxpayers reportedly coughed up at least $2.4 million to fund former President Donald Trump's dozens of golf outings in the state.

According to records obtained by NJ Advance Media, the bulk — $1.9 million — went to hotel accommodations for Trump's Secret Service agents. Trump has a private golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, and he's visited the city 99 times over the course of his presidency, NJ Advance Media reported.

The Secret Service also paid more than $454,000 on travel, rental cars, golf carts, and portable toilets, the local news outlet reported. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

NJ Advance Media pointed out that the $2.4 million sum does not include the cost of Trump's Air Force One trips to and from Bedminster. An hour aboard that private jet costs more than $142,000. Also unaccounted for is the cost of getting to the golf club from the Morristown Airport in the presidential helicopter, NJ Advance Media said.

Even now, as the former president is no longer in office, Secret Service continues to spend lavishly.

A new report revealed that the Secret Service is spending $34,140 on portable toilets in Bedminster, where Trump is staying over the summer before coming back down to Florida.

Throughout Trump's presidency, his Bedminster golf club has also served as a political hub where the former president hosted press conferences and raised funds for his 2020 re-election campaign.

During his four-year tenure in office, Trump played golf nearly 300 times, tracker Trump Golf Count says.

Prior to entering office, he would frequently blast his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, for golfing, saying he would never "have time" to play if he were in the role.

"I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf," he told supporters.

And during his presidency, Trump downplayed the amount of time he spent on the course and falsely claimed Obama played more than he did.

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