Secret Service spent $30K to rent golf carts at Trump’s resort in Ireland

Federal procurement records show the Secret Service paid $26,353.47 for urgent golf cart rentals during President Donald Trump’s visit to his country club in Doonbeg, Ireland. The contract summary, titled “POTUS DOONBEG GOLF CARTS URGENT USSS,” lists the amount. Trump, who earned an estimated $2.2 billion last year, was in Doonbeg to watch the final rounds of the Amgen Irish Open. He was ferried around the links in an armored cart nicknamed “Golf Force One.”

Golf cart rentals are normally provided by third‑party vendors, but the Doonbeg contract does not list a supplier. Earlier in June 2025, the Secret Service spent more than $550,000 on rentals for Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey club, awarding the contract to Associates Golf Car Service of Poughkeepsie, New York. Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump’s golf trips have cost U.S. taxpayers almost $200 million, according to an analysis of publicly available data. The Government Accountability Office found that his first‑term golf habit cost taxpayers $151.5 million.

In Doonbeg, federal contracting records also show the Secret Service paid $22,957 for rooms. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee alleged that the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel charged the agency far more than the authorized federal rate and more than other guests, including members of a foreign royal family and a Chinese business interest. The report described the situation as the president treating the Secret Service as an ATM. Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, has previously insisted that the agency should stay at the family properties for free.

Trump’s arrival in Dublin on September 12 drew large protests; he met with Prime Minister Micheál Martin and President Catherine Connolly amid demonstrations of thousands. In Doonbeg, about 100 protesters gathered in the village of 297 residents. A Methodist minister told BBC News that he was there because Trump opposed his faith. Eric Trump dismissed the demonstrators as “paid to protest” and attacked actress Rosie O’Donnell. Trump said he would return to Ireland in 2027 to attend the Ryder Cup at Limerick’s Adare Manor, though he suggested the tournament might be held at his own course in Scotland.