Trump's Tax Returns Show His Golf Courses Are Losing Him Loads of Money

President Donald Trump's passion for golf is reportedly costing him a lot of money, with several of his golf courses racking up multi-million dollar losses.

According to a New York Times investigation into Trump's tax returns over the last two decades, Trump has reported a combined $315.6 million loss at his golf courses over the last two decades.

According to the report, the president's three courses in Europe—Trump Turnberry, Trump International Scotland and Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland—have reported a combined $63.6 million in losses.

Trump's family has invested heavily at Turnberry, delivering an upgrade on course and facilities worth north of $150 million. According to the most recent annual report available, however, the course made $19 million in sales in 2018 but reported a loss of almost $1 million.

The Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, the largest golf resort in the president's portfolio, had racked up $162.3 million worth of losses through to the end of 2018.

Trump purchased the resort for $150 million in 2012 and, according to tax records obtained by The New York Times, he invested $213 million into the resort with a $125 million mortgage balance due in three years.

In June 2016, Trump and the PGA Tour exchanged verbal salvos when the WGC-Cadillac Championship was moved from Miami to Mexico from the 2017 season, after Cadillac opted not to renew its sponsorship.

The course had hosted the Doral Open between 1962 and 2006 before becoming the stage for the WGC-Cadillac Championship and Trump accused the PGA Tour of showing disregard for American workers in the name of profits.

Trump's growing investments in golf have come on the back of his soaring popularity following his role on The Apprentice, the popular reality TV series which judges the business skills of a group of contestants. Trump hosted the first 14 seasons and, according to The New York Times, he made a total of $427.4 million thanks to his role on the show and subsequent endorsement and licensing deals.

A large chunk of that sum was invested in golf courses. By the time The Apprentice premiered in 2004, Trump owned just two golf courses and was in the process of renovating a further two.

According to Trump Golf's official website, the president now owns 19 golf courses worldwide—aside from Trump National Doral a further 11 are located in the U.S., as well as two in Dubai, two in Indonesia, and three across Scotland and Ireland.

Together with Trump's hotel in Washington, the three European golf courses returned a total of $150.3 million between 2010 and 2018, according to the wide-ranging report, which claims Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016—the year he won the presidency—and 2017.

Trump had reportedly paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years, largely owing to the fact he had declared losing more money than he had made.

"Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015," Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said in a statement to The New York Times.

Only two of Trump's golf courses have hosted international events since he was elected president in 2016. The Trump National Golf Course in Washington, D.C. hosted the Senior PGA Championship in 2017—it had previously hosted the 2013 Junior PGA Championship—while the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey, hosted the Women's U.S. Open in the same year after hosting the USGA Junior Amateur Championship in 2009 and the Met Open Championship in 2014.

Bedminster will, however, be home to the PGA Championship in 2022.