Trump's Early Travel Rivals Biden's, Focused on Sports and Golf

Presidential Travel Patterns in the Early Months of Trump’s Second Term

The phrase “moving at the speed of Trump” has often been used to describe the rapid pace of change under the Trump administration. However, when it comes to presidential travel, the data reveals a different story. In the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump's travel schedule is surprisingly similar to that of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

At the six-month mark, Trump had made 49 trips to 14 states and seven foreign countries. These trips included a significant number of weekend golf outings and sporting events. In contrast, Biden made 45 trips to 17 states and three foreign countries during his first six months in office, which coincided with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While Biden frequently traveled to his home state of Delaware for weekends, he also made more political and official trips compared to Trump.

Trump’s travel in his second term has been less frequent than in his first term. During his initial term from January to July 2017, he made 48 trips to 21 states and eight foreign countries. The White House has emphasized that Trump is most effective when working from the Oval Office, engaging in phone calls, signing executive orders, and meeting with foreign leaders and U.S. officials.

According to White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers, Trump’s travel reflects his America First agenda. He stated, “He is meeting the American people where they are and representing their best interests.” The president is expected to continue working tirelessly to deliver the best deals for the American people from the Oval Office, throughout the country, and around the world.

Weekend Trips and Sporting Events

When Trump is on the road, it is often to his properties for weekend trips centered around golf. His most frequent destinations include Palm Beach, Florida; Bedminster, New Jersey; and Sterling, Virginia. The president has made 14 trips to Florida, 13 to Virginia, and eight to New Jersey. As summer approached, he began favoring Bedminster or day trips to Sterling over Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Biden, on the other hand, often returned to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, for weekends. While he occasionally played golf, he attended Mass nearly every weekend. He also traveled frequently to showcase policy achievements, such as visiting Smith Flooring in Chester, Pennsylvania, to highlight the impact of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

In addition to golf, Trump’s non-golf domestic travel has largely revolved around sporting events. He attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia, and the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Political Rallies and Commencements

Trump has held only three major political rallies since returning to the White House. These included his 100th day celebration in suburban Detroit, a visit to Pittsburgh to promote an agreement between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel, and a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, to kick off the 250th birthday of America. He also gave an economy-focused speech at a Las Vegas casino and addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Biden, on the other hand, made more early political trips. He participated in a CNN town hall in Wisconsin, marked the 11th anniversary of the Obama administration’s health care law in Columbus, Ohio, and addressed a socially distanced, drive-in rally in Atlanta. Trump, however, gave more commencement addresses, speaking at the University of Alabama and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

International Travel

One area where Trump has outpaced Biden is in international travel. He visited Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral and took a swing through Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar before attending the G7 meeting in Canada and a NATO summit in the Netherlands. Biden did not travel overseas until the G7 in June 2021, when he visited the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland during the pandemic.

Visits to Natural Disaster Sites

Trump’s second term started with visits to western North Carolina and Southern California, both affected by natural disasters that occurred under Biden’s presidency. He also visited Texas after recent devastating floods. However, he did not tour parts of Missouri and Kentucky ravaged by tornadoes or areas hit by strong storms in Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. He also did not visit the widespread aftermath of spring tornadoes in Mississippi and Arkansas.

Biden toured storm damage in Houston in February 2021 but did not visit all natural disaster sites during his first six months. He did, however, go to Florida after a building collapse in Surfside that killed 98 people.

Promised Visits That Haven’t Happened Yet

Trump pledged to visit Israel and Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit the White House in early February. However, his Middle East trip in May did not include these locations. He also suggested that Elon Musk would check out Fort Knox in Kentucky to verify U.S. gold reserves, but with Musk having left the administration and engaged in a public feud with Trump, this seems unlikely.

Trump has expressed interest in visiting Africa “at some point” and has been less committed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to attend a September summit of the Quad countries. He is set to visit Scotland next week and will tour two areas with his golf properties. He is also scheduled for an official visit to England in the fall, following an invitation from King Charles, which he accepted during a visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.