From an early age, I realized that I was one of the lucky ones. I grew up in a middle-class family. I was able to go to undergraduate and graduate school and found good jobs with benefits. I believed in paying my fair share of taxes so that the government could sustain and improve our infrastructure, provide access to healthcare for all, conduct valuable research, and protect our country.
These days I am appalled at the over-the-top spending of an Administration out of control with priorities that are, in my mind, indefensible. Last week, our national debt topped $40 trillion and is expected to continue to climb.
Let’s take a quick look at the crazy spending spree that is occurring right now.
The country’s 250th birthday party extravaganza that Trump is orchestrating, including massive aircraft flyovers, the Great American State Fair on the Mall, and the largest fireworks display in history, cost taxpayers $45 million.
The UFC cage match to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday cost taxpayers $60 million, complete with a full octagon, federal agency support, and a fight week event at the Lincoln memorial.
Trump’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Washington D.C. streets last weekend is estimated to cost taxpayers at least $68 million. (Believe it or not, more than 200 manhole covers were welded shut before the race because supercars create aerodynamic suction capable of lifting and dislodging manhole covers. In addition, art preservationists have expressed concern that vibrations caused by racing cars could damage paintings and sculptures at the National Gallery of Art and the Hirschorn.)
Trump’s vanity arch, dubbed “Arc de Trump,” has a $15-million taxpayer downpayment. At this point, there is no final estimate of ultimate costs.
The adding and removing of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center has cost the institution millions of dollars—never mind the deep financial crisis that the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera are suffering. It has recently been reported that the physical removal of the lettering of Trump’s name has caused structural panel damage to the Kennedy Center’s outer marble structure.
During the government shutdown, Trump spent $172 million to buy two Gulfstream G700s, plus a $70 million Boeing 737Max business jet.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to spend between $10 to $20 million to purchase thousands of specialized electric-shock gloves for ICE agents.
Trump spent $2 million paving over the White House rose garden.
The D.C. deployment of ICE agents alone costs $1 million a day. The mobilization effort in Los Angeles racked up $134 million in costs.
As of August 2026, official Pentagon estimates place the direct military cost of the ill-begotten Iran war at $37.5 billion. No end to the war is in sight.
According to tracking by CREW, in 512 days, there have been 73 weekends or 146 weekend days that Trump has visited resorts and golf courses, amounting to more than one-third of his presidency. Official presidential reports estimate that each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs $3.4 million. Each hour flight on Air Force One is estimated to cost $200,000.
Trump’s tax cuts to the uber-wealthy under the second Trump administration are projected to reduce government revenue by $2.5 trillion. Trump’s pardoning of white-collar criminals has wiped out more than $102 million in direct criminal fines that would have otherwise been paid to the U.S. Treasury. His first-ever pardons to corporations have wiped away $100 million anti-money laundering fines owed to the government. (Trump’s pardons have also wiped out approximately $113 million that was owed to victims.) According to several sources, the settlement involving the reporter who divulged Trump’s tax returns means that Trump no longer owes more than $100 million to the IRS.
However, dear readers, never fear. We eventually will be able to revel in a White House ballroom with a fine granite walkway so that we can sip cocktails on our way inside, a White House helipad decorated with gold coins and a large presidential seal, a Trump arch, hopefully a repaired reflecting pool, a gold-gilded White House oval office, and more.
Meanwhile, cuts have been made to clinical trials, healthcare research, environmental protections, veteran benefits and jobs, foreign aid, infrastructure aid to Blue states, SNAP benefits, student loans, small businesses and housing programs, special supplemental nutrition programs for women, infants, and children, preschool development grants, workforce development grants, national parks, and more.
Economists estimate that the average American family is spending $3,500 extra on basic living expenses due to rising prices on everyday goods. (Gas prices cost on average $600 a year more. Ground beef is up 18 percent. Orange juice is up 20 percent. And tariffs have added an estimated $1,700 to $2,000 to the average family’s cost annually.)
To those of you who say there has always been government waste, you are right. No one can deny that some programs have had questionable impact and results. But I contend that no one can deny that this administration’s flagrant waste of tax dollars and misplaced priorities is beyond the pale. And let’s not forget that Trump has fired almost all Inspectors General whose job was to identify waste, fraud, and abuse.
In conclusion, let me remind you of a few statements Trump made on the campaign trail.
“Prices will come down. You just watch. They’ll come down and they’ll come down fast.”
“We will eliminate regulations that drive up housing costs with the goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half.”
“Starting on day one we will end inflation and make America affordable again. We’ll do that. We’ve got to bring it down.”
“I call myself the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me. I like debt for me. I don’t like debt for the country. We are sitting on a time bomb.”
The author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once wrote, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” My case rests.
19 Responses
No, your case doesnt rest!.. the amount of money mentioned above.. to celebrate America , pales compared to the wasteful fraudulent spending in Minnesota and California. If you want to hear some mind blowing numbers…in Minnesota the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency found $9 billion in fraudulent social programs plus $9 billion in medicaid fraud…thats at least $18 billion. California.. the Employment development Department acknowledged over $55 billion and another $24 billion in untracked homelessness spending. Add that up together.. just 2 liberal states and you get almost $100 billion!!!!… holey moley… let that one sink in. That could have easily covered 100 times over those things you mentioned above! How come you never mention that?
Ed. Note: The figures cited here are based on real reports, but they are being combined in a way that produces a misleading “almost $100 billion” total.
In Minnesota, the widely cited $9 billion figure is an estimate by federal prosecutors of potential fraud involving 14 high-risk Medicaid programs since 2018. It is not $9 billion in social-program fraud plus another $9 billion in Medicaid fraud. Adding those two figures appears to count essentially the same estimate twice.
California’s $55 billion figure also requires context. It refers to unemployment benefits the Employment Development Department estimated may have been paid to ineligible recipients during the pandemic. That does not mean auditors established that $55 billion was fraudulent or stolen.
Likewise, California did spend or allocate nearly $24 billion on homelessness and housing programs over a five-year period. The California State Auditor sharply criticized the state for failing to adequately track program costs and outcomes. But the audit did not find that $24 billion disappeared, was fraudulent, or was entirely “untracked.” It found inadequate accountability for assessing the effectiveness of programs on which that money was spent.
There are legitimate and serious stories here about fraud, poor oversight and government accountability in both states. Those deserve scrutiny. But adding together a duplicated Minnesota estimate, California’s broadly defined ineligible unemployment payments, and $24 billion in homelessness expenditures does not establish “almost $100 billion” in fraudulent or wasteful spending.
Criticism is strongest when the numbers actually say what we claim they say.
Numbers are sometimes difficult to accumulate due to uncooperative state agencies in corrupt states like Minnesota and California. Trends are just as significant. The point being, the author was condemning Federal spending most of which was celebrating America and ignoring incredible amount of fraudulence at the same time to equal if not surpass what she was alluding to.Question for you..If there was simply no accounting of the 24 Billion for homelessness in California and no fraudulence, why is homelessness sky rocketing in California. So where do you propose that money went? Asking for a friend
It’s hard not to notice that Dr O’Connor never actually addresses the waste, fraud, abuse and incompetence of trump and his administration that are called out by Ms Grant. Instead, he uses the now tiresome trumpian tactic of distraction with false “facts”, exaggerations, and scaremongering to try to make his point. It’s a tour de force of juvenile whataboutisms worthy of Fox News.
But let’s just say that Dr O’Conner’s charges against Minnesota and California were accurate. Didn’t his mother ever tell him that two wrongs don’t make a right. How would malfeasance and misfeasance in any state absolve or make right the sheer incompetence and lawlessness of trump, his administration, or his family that is obvious to all but the most committed maga?
None of the authors allegations about the Trump administraton is fraudulent . Why are you comparing government spending to fraudulent spending. True fraud literally had the sanction of those corrupt states under Biden. He said clean it up … with no penalty… thats exactly how liberal states and DA function “just stop it” All the “cutbacks” are to agencies that had no oversight and wasteful spending of our tax dollars.This includes NIH who had oversight of unsanctioned development of gain of function virus that killed millions and continues to have an impact on our society/ our children and our health.You see , the problem is these lawless states refuse to give accurate account of all the corruption and fraud .. so Trump will find it . The fraud in those states is malfeasance pure and simple not misfeasance. The only lawlessness is demonstrated mostly in liberal sanctuary cities where now the social democrats feel quite comfortable with a very indolent agenda of destroying our Constitutional Republic
Truth …and accuracy …matters a lot!
It is all too easy for those who still think that somehow trump is doing the right thing to summon up numbers that seem to point to the infractions of others while holding that trump did or does nothing wrong. There has never been the grift, the lies, the nastiness that we now see coming out of the White House that we, as citizens, are supporting.
22 million illegal that Just showed up on the Federal and State benefits, from the Last administration/media Open Border deception Plan. Are we the tax payers paying for them also ?? (YES) Not to mention the sanctuary blues states Legal Bills for all of the 22 million Illegal. (YES). Americans Will never forget those Debts that Were thrown on all of US for decades to come.
Ed Note; There are legitimate debates to be had about the public costs of illegal immigration, but they need to begin with accurate numbers.
There is no credible evidence that **22 million undocumented immigrants entered the United States during the Biden administration**, much less that 22 million people “showed up” on federal and state benefit rolls. Pew Research Center estimated the **entire unauthorized immigrant population** at about 14 million in 2023, and that figure included millions of people who had lived in the United States for many years.
Nor are undocumented immigrants generally eligible for the major federal means-tested benefit programs. Federal law bars them from programs including SNAP, regular Medicaid, SSI, TANF and most federal housing assistance. There are exceptions, including emergency Medicaid and certain emergency and public-health services. U.S.-citizen children may also qualify for benefits even when their parents are undocumented.
It is true that some states use **state funds** to provide additional health care or other assistance to undocumented residents, and some states and localities fund immigration legal-aid programs. Those are legitimate public-policy choices that taxpayers are entitled to debate. But they are not evidence that 22 million undocumented immigrants are receiving federal benefits or that “sanctuary states” are paying the legal bills of 22 million people.
Border encounters, illegal entries, asylum applicants, people released pending immigration proceedings, the total undocumented population and benefit recipients are **not interchangeable statistics**.
So before assigning taxpayers decades of debt for “22 million” people, the first question is a simple one:
**What is the source for the claim that 22 million undocumented immigrants entered during the last administration and are now receiving federal or state benefits?**
Without a credible source, repeating the number does not make it a fact.
Oh so you still believe Mayorkas when he said the border was secure. You also never mention the” got aways”.. easily hundreds of thousands maybe millions especially since Border Patrol estimates suggest 500,000 to 1 million each year x 4 years of Biden is 4 million “got aways” alone.Add that to the generally recognized figure of 14 million unauthorized immigrant population and thats 18 million… they have probably reproduced here so now even higher… maybe 22 million since Biden let them in!!!!
Also , you do know Emergency Rooms MUST care for them for free and they are “entitled” to public school education.As far as taxes are concerned… you know it was popular to employ illegals and pay them “under the table”… ergo no taxes,so you cant go saying they pay their share of taxes
Ed Note: Yes, federal law requires most hospital emergency rooms to screen and stabilize anyone with an emergency medical condition regardless of citizenship, insurance or ability to pay. But that does not mean undocumented immigrants are simply “entitled to free healthcare.” The same EMTALA law protects an uninsured American who cannot pay, and patients can still be billed for treatment. The requirement is emergency screening and stabilization. Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (CMS)
Yes, undocumented children have a right to attend public K–12 schools. That has been constitutional law since the Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Plyler v. Doe. Source: U.S. Department of Education. (U.S. Department of Education)
But the claim that undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes because some are paid “under the table” is simply false. Certainly some workers are paid off the books, just as some citizens are. But undocumented immigrants also pay sales and excise taxes, property taxes directly or through rent, and many pay income and payroll taxes through withholding or tax returns filed with ITINs.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, including $59.4 billion federally and $37.3 billion to states and localities. That included approximately $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes. (ITEP)
Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; U.S. Department of Education; Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Interesting that my comment about the 22 million didnt get published
Maria, thank you for taking the time to write this article. It must be frustrating to see comments arguing and redirecting. I hope you are enjoying writing, reading, music, bicycling, and nature.
Wendy, thanks for your message. Much appreciated.
To all the naysayers above: I quote Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, “You Can’t Handle the Truth.” Maria, keep up the good work!
Thank you James Dissette for adding clarification to the misleading numbers cited above by Gerald O’Connor.
Yes there is fraud and abuse across all administrations but no where near the extent of this administration nor the vast personal enrichment of the Trump family.
I agree with Wendy, and wish you the same, Maria. I thought the GOP were the champions of reducing or eliminating deficit spending? The GOP is blowing out the Federal deficit through irresponsible Federal spending and tax decreases for high income individuals and corporations.
Great article Thanks for putting it together and prompting the discussion