Is Donald Trump A Hypocrite? Things He Criticized Barack Obama For But Does Himself

When he wasn't yet president, and Barack Obama was, Donald Trump repeatedly criticized his predecessor for a variety of things, including Obama's fondness for relaxing with a round of golf.

"Can you believe that, with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf. Worse than Carter." Trump tweeted Oct. 13, 2014.

There were numerous other tweets Trump wrote against Obama and his love for golf during his own presidential campaign.

However, Trump contradicted himself when he played golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at two of his courses in South Florida: 18 holes at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, and nine more at the Trump International Golf Club in nearby West Palm Beach, on Saturday and then tweeted about having "a great time."

It is not just on the golf course that Trump has done things he previously criticized Obama for. From foreign policy decisions to executive orders, he has now done many of the exact same things.

Trump regularly blasted Obama for taking too many vacations paid for by tax dollars.

In another tweet around the same time, Trump took to criticizing the first family's downtime, lamenting: "Why did @BarackObama and his family travel separately to Martha's Vineyard? They love to extravagantly spend on the taxpayers' dime."

Directly contradicting his own apparent convictions, Trump went on a vacation to Florida on the fourteenth day of his presidency. During this, which he called a "working weekend", Trump stayed at his Mar-a-Lago club, and the trips is estimated by Politico to have cost taxpayers $3 million in Air Force One, Secret Service, and other costs.

Trump was also very critical of Obama's foreign policy, saying the former president treated enemies with "tender love and care" and "picked fights with our oldest friends."

Now, the Trump administration has almost entirely embraced the "pillars of Obama's foreign policy," as one New York Times headline reads. He is treating Russia, a historic foe, with unprecedented warmth, praising its President Vladimir Putin and defending him after Fox News' Bill O'Reilly called him "a killer" in a recent interview.

As for U.S relations with Israel, Trump has now been doing almost exactly what he slammed Obama for just weeks ago. He asked Israel in a statement not to expand settlements they started in the West Bank because it "may not be helpful" for peace in the region.

President Trump, while still a civilian in 2012, attacked Obama for advancing his goals through executive action.

Like Obama and many presidents before him, Trump took office and swiftly signed several executive orders, 18 to be exact, in his first 12 days, including improvising the Affordable Care Act, reinstating the global gag rule, allowing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and most notably, the extensively protested and partially blocked travel ban on citizens from seven countries.