US3 min(s) read
Donald Trump has found himself at the center of accusations over his honesty on the golf course after sharing a video that he labelled as the winning shot from his latest club championship victory.
The US president posted footage on Truth Social of what he said was his 'winning shot' in both the senior and super senior divisions of the club championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster.
Alongside the post, Trump wrote: “I won with a score of 70, and am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, because I’m focused on many other things.
"It’s called TALENT, and I have it, and they don’t!”
The post quickly sparked outrage online, with critics digging up old allegations that Trump has exaggerated his golfing achievements and benefited from favorable rulings during competitions hosted at his own courses.
According to his social media post, Trump won the Super Senior Men’s Club Championship, which is generally the category for men 65 years and older, as well as the Senior Men’s Club Championship, which is typically for men 50 years and older.
Last year he also won the senior men’s competition.
In 2023, he also won both Senior and Super Senior championships and announced it in a Truth Social post, saying: “For some reason, I am just a good golfer/athlete - I have won many Club Championships, and it is always a great honor!”
Social media users questioned the legitimacy of the latest victory, with some pointing to Trump's decades-long reputation for allegedly bending golf's rules.
However, the President long used the tournaments to praise his own golfing ability while belittling his competitors.
Sportswriter Rick Reilly, author of an entire book on Trump’s cheating, Commander in Cheat, has repeatedly accused Trump of breaking golf rules, inflating scores and claiming tournament victories under questionable circumstances.
Trump has obviously vehemently denied the allegations.
In the book, Reilly claimed: “At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: Pele.”
LPGA player Suzann Pettersen was reported saying the president 'cheats like hell' in 2018, while actor Samuel L. Jackson accused the president of cheating at golf in 2016.
Unsurprisingly, questions around the number of championships Trump claims to have won have recirculated online.
Following his latest success, Trump suggested the victory marked his 43rd club championship, although that figure has been disputed by critics and golf commentators.
3 min(s) read
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
3 min(s) read
1 min(s) read
us news3 min(s) read
us3 min(s) read
us3 min(s) read
us4 min(s) read
sport1 min(s) read
Donald Trump is once again facing allegations of cheating on the golf course, following the circulation of a video reportedly taken during the 2025 Men’s Senior Club Championship on Saturday, August 2.
The 79-year-old president, a longtime golf enthusiast and owner of multiple golf courses around the world, has been documented spending a significant portion of his second term on the links. According to tracking site Trump Golf Track, nearly 20% of his days since returning to office have involved golf outings.
Trump’s recent win at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, was celebrated with a post on the official White House Instagram account, which shared a photo of his scorecard. The caption read: “Winning on and off the course,” and stated that Trump shot a gross 69 and a net 67 to claim the tournament title.
However, shortly after the announcement, a video surfaced online raising questions about the legitimacy of that performance.
A social media user on X shared footage allegedly from the same day, showing a caddy appearing to drop a ball onto the green in front of Trump. The user wrote: “Another caddy caught dropping a golf ball for Trump. This time it was at Bedminster. This footage is from Saturday, the day the White House announced Trump won the 2025 Men’s Senior Club Championship.”
While the video has drawn criticism and mockery online, it remains unclear whether the footage was taken during the official tournament or simply during a casual round of golf.
Some users came to Trump’s defense, pointing out that marking and replacing balls on the green is a standard practice in golf. One wrote: “Perfectly legal on the green where players will mark the spot where the ball came to rest, usually with a coin.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has been accused of questionable conduct on the course. Just last week, during a trip to Scotland, another video emerged showing a caddy appearing to place a ball on the fairway ahead of Trump, leading to similar claims.
Over the years, several public figures have accused Trump of cheating at golf. Actor Samuel L. Jackson, in a 2016 interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, said he had played with Trump and bluntly claimed: “I don’t cheat. He does.” Jackson described an incident where Trump’s ball clearly landed in a lake, only for his caddy to later declare it "found."
Former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly has echoed these sentiments, telling MSNBC’s Deadline White House: “He took seven mulligans. He took a ‘gimme chip-in.’ I’ve never even heard of that [...] Golf reveals character, and in Trump’s case, it shows he just can’t lose. He’ll cheat to win.”
Trump has consistently denied cheating allegations, often responding publicly. In 2016, he addressed Jackson’s comments directly, claiming he didn’t know the actor and saying: “I don’t cheat at golf but @SamuelLJackson cheats, with his game he has no choice.”
Despite the recent controversy, neither Trump nor the White House has issued a statement responding to the latest video. As the footage continues to circulate, the debate over the president’s golf game (and sportsmanship) continues to stir public attention.
Donald Trump has been ridiculed after a video surfaced that apparently shows him "cheating" on the golf course.
Trump is in the news a lot nowadays, and that can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your views on him.
But this time it isn't his politics or outspoken nature that's caught the eye - it's his golf.
While in Europe, the President decided to spend some time on the green, swinging clubs at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland.
But what should have been a relaxing round quickly turned into a social media storm, thanks to a suspicious moment caught on camera.
Footage captured from inside a nearby building shows Trump arriving on the course in a golf cart, positioned left of the fairway with a bunker ahead and fescue to the left.
As the 79-year-old stepped out, two caddies walked past him - one of whom stopped, bent down, and discreetly dropped a ball onto the grass in front of the former president.
Trump then walked up, club in hand, apparently preparing to play the conveniently placed ball. The video cuts out before he takes the shot, but that was enough to send the internet into a frenzy.
Social media users were quick to accuse Trump of bending the rules once again. “Who needs a foot wedge when you have a personal ball dropper???” one user quipped on X.
A PGA professional even chimed in with a jab, writing: “Such a perfect metaphor for our Commander-in-Cheat.”
This isn’t Trump’s first brush with golf-related controversy. Over the years, several celebrities and sports figures have accused him of being less than honest on the course.
Back in January, Pulp Fiction actor Samuel L. Jackson recalled a round with Trump, saying: “Oh, I am, for sure. I don't cheat.” Trump later denied ever playing with Jackson, despite the actor’s claims, per the Daily Mail.
In 2016, Black-ish star Anthony Anderson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and shared a similar story. “Trump is a great golfer. I'm not going to say Trump cheats. His caddy cheats for him,” Anderson said.
Asked whether he had personally seen it happen, Anderson responded: “Oh yes, several times. Several times.”
He detailed one instance where both he and Trump hit poor shots to the left. “Trump's ball had the fluffiest lie in the middle of the fairway,” Anderson said.
“Like I say, I didn't see Trump cheat because he was on the tee-box with me, but his ball was right there in the middle of the fairway.”
Even veteran sports journalist Rick Reilly has weighed in. In 2019, he wrote about Trump’s golfing antics, saying that caddies had nicknamed him “Pele” for allegedly kicking his ball to better positions.
“To say Donald Trump cheats is like saying Michael Phelps swims,” Reilly wrote in The Sunday Times.
“Trump doesn't just cheat at golf. He cheats like a three-card monte dealer. He throws it, boots it and moves it. Whether you're his pharmacist or Tiger Woods, if you're playing golf with him, he's going to cheat.”
When President Donald Trump met North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un in June 2018, he missed the club championship at his Trump International golf course in Florida. Investor Ted Virtue won the championship, but apparently that didn't sit well with POTUS. One month later, Trump ran into Virtue on the course, while he was playing with his young son, and challenged him to a rematch for the championship, according to sportswriter Rick Reilly.
Reilly wrote the new book Commander in Cheat, which explores how Trump's relationship with golf may explain his character. Trump claims he won 20 championships and has a 3 handicap, but that's not true, according to Reilly's interviews with over 100 golf pros, amateurs, developers, and caddies. They describe how Trump lies about his scores, tramples etiquette by driving carts on the greens, and cheats with the help of caddies and Secret Service agents."Golf is like bicycle shorts," Reilly writes. "It reveals a lot about a man."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/CNN/status/878319151034519552]]
While speaking with Vox's Sean Illing, Reilly recounted the "most outrageous" example of Trump cheating at golf: stealing a ball from Ted Virtue's son, who was 10 or 11 years old, to win a dictated 'championship match.'
"He [Trump] sees Ted on the 9th hole and decides to drive his cart over there. He tells Ted: Congrats on winning the club championship, but you didn’t really win it because I was out of town. Ted tries to laugh it off, but Trump is dead serious. Trump says, 'We're going to play these last six holes for the championship.; And Ted's like, 'I'm playing with my son, but thanks anyway.' But Trump says, 'No, your son can play too. So they end up playing.
"They get to a hole with a big pond on it. Both Ted and his son hit the ball on the green, and Trump hits his in the water. By the time they get to the hole, Trump is lining up the kid's ball. Only now it's his ball and the caddie has switched it. The kid's like, "Daddy, that's my ball. But Trump's caddie goes, 'No, this is the president's ball; your ball went in the water.' Ted and his son look at each other confused, not sure if this is really happening. And Trump's caddie says, "This is the president's ball. I don't know what to tell you."
"This guy cheats like a Mafia accountant," Reilly concluded, adding that this story was confirmed by at least two members of Trump's golf club. According to Golf.com, Trump told Virtue they could be co-champions, but the plaque on Trump's locker reads "2018 Men's Club Champion," with no mention of sharing the title.
When Barack Obama was president, Donald Trump repeatedly criticized him for playing golf. However, President Trump has golfed significantly more than Obama, so much more that he is projected to double Obama's golf rate at the end of eight years, if re‑elected. That's quite a contradiction for Trump, who stated during his 2016 presidential campaign: "I'm going to be working for you. I'm not going to have time to go play golf."
Donald Trump has been caught on camera making comments about a woman's body while riding in a golf cart with his 17-year-old grandson.
The president, who turns 80 in June, was filmed at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sunday, and the clip has quickly gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
Trump was driving through his Florida golf course with his grandson, Donald Trump III - Don Jr's 17-year-old son - sitting beside him when he spotted a woman.
Without missing a beat, the president began shouting compliments about her physique from the moving cart.
"She's in great shape!" he said, driving with one hand as he pointed at the woman.
"She's in great shape, look at her."
He then pulled over, got out of the cart - leaving his teenage grandson behind - and fixed his belt before calling the woman over.
"You want a picture?" he asked.
"Come on over here."
Still apparently fixated, he added: "Is she in good shape or what?"
Trump then put his arm around the woman, who appeared to be a member at the club. He grabbed her hand as a crowd began to form around them, before asking: "You're all members, right?"
He then put his arm around her once more and asked: "Is that your husband?" - pointing towards the person filming.
The woman has been identified as Nina Coates, a golf content creator from Taiwan who is based in Miami.
Coates responded to the attention on social media with good humour, posting a clip of the encounter on TikTok alongside the words 'Yes I'm married' and a laughing face emoji.
How have people reacted?
As you might imagine, the clip hasn't gone down well with everybody.
Critics online were quick to share their thoughts, with one writing on X: "This is disgusting behaviour from a sitting president. His grandson is right there."
Another added: "Nearly 80 years old, commenting on a woman's body like she's a show horse. Embarrassing."
Others were more blunt. "Imagine being 17 and watching your grandad do this," one user wrote, while another simply posted: "This man is the President of the United States."
There were also those who drew comparisons to Trump's long history of making public comments about women's appearances.
The clip comes just weeks after Trump was criticised for complimenting Fox News host Dana Perino's looks on live television while she was asking him about whether Iranians had access to food and water during the ongoing conflict.
"Do you remember when we had lunch years ago at the base of Trump Tower? You haven't changed," Trump told Perino, before adding: "You may be even better looking, OK?" as reported by The Mirror.
The president was also found liable in 2023 for sexually abusing columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and infamously boasted in the leaked 2005 'Access Hollywood' tape about grabbing women without consent.
Supporters, meanwhile, have largely brushed the golf course clip off as Trump being Trump - arguing that complimenting someone's fitness is hardly a scandal.
The incident comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Trump's time on the golf course.
A HuffPost analysis released late last month found that the president's golf outings have cost the taxpayer at least $101.2 million in travel and security expenses since he returned to office in January last year.
All three of Trump's wives have been younger than him. His current wife, First Lady Melania Trump, is 55 - some 24 years his junior.
His first wife, Ivana Trump, passed away in July 2022 at the age of 73.
Whether you see the clip as harmless fun or deeply uncomfortable viewing probably depends on where you already stand on Trump.
But either way, it's hard to imagine too many grandfathers behaving like that with a teenager sitting next to them.
Golf is the perfect sport to take up if you're looking to unwind from a stressful day work. There's nothing like pacing the green, breathing in the fresh air, and smashing a few balls 200+ yards to help you relax.
However, it looks as if Donald Trump's golf caddie had anything but a relaxing experience on the golf course over the weekend, as footage of the US President's game surfaced on social media.
In the baffling clip, recorded on the fairways of his Virginia golf course on Sunday (July 12), the POTUS' golf caddie can be seen holding on to the back of Trump's golf cart as he drives quickly over the course - despite there being a perfectly good seat next to the President.
The footage was shared to Twitter by NBC News White House Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/1282480139578814464]]
O'Donnell accompanied the footage with the caption: "Brief video clip from the president’s golf outing. The course is the only place he gets to drive himself. Secret Service positioned nearby. The caddie holding on in back."
The clip was recorded at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
However, after receiving criticism for playing golf on both Saturday and Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to defend his games and shut down his critics.
"I know many in business and politics that work out endlessly, in some cases to a point of exhaustion. It is their number one passion in life, but nobody complains. My 'exercise' is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf. Obama played more and much longer....
"...rounds, no problem. When I play, Fake News CNN, and others, park themselves anywhere they can to get a picture, then scream 'President Trump is playing golf.' Actually, I play VERY fast, get a lot of work done on the golf course, and also get a 'tiny' bit of exercise. Not bad!"
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1282286508716756993]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1282286510390288384]]
And judging from his golf cart skills, you certainly cannot argue that he plays "fast".
However, during his presidential campaign, Trump often criticized former president Barrack Obama for spending time on the golf course.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN2enFzOXcw]]
Back during an August 2016 campaign event, Trump said:
"If I win I may never see my property - I may never see these places again, because I'm going to be working for you - I'm not going to have time to go golfing, believe me. Believe me. Believe me, folks."
In fact, Trump took to Twitter to blast Obama for playing golf while president at least 27 times.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/733974704445358080]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/152814332915363840]]
CBS has since reported that - by its count - President Trump has made 193 trips to his own or other golf clubs over a period of 258 days.
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
