Donald Trump claimed 38 club championships on Thanksgiving as questions over his golf record resurfaced
22:54 ET, 27 Nov 2025Updated 00:16 ET, 28 Nov 2025
Donald Trump made more scratch golf claims on Thanksgiving
Donald Trump spent his Thanksgiving morning on a golf course and his afternoon insisting that he keeps adding to his trophy cabinet — as the U.S. President claimed his number of golf titles went from 36 to 38.
Trump spoke with service members on a Thanksgiving call from Mar-a-Lago, where he once again declared himself a scratch golfer and claimed he beat a 27-year-old competitor — who he described as “a plus-three” — last year. The president’s claims reignited stories about his golf resume, which was described as a “100% lie” in Rick Reilly’s 2019 book Commander in Cheat.
The book scrutinized everything from Trump’s handicap claims to his tournament participation and victories. Trump doubled down by saying every golf title was legitimate because “you have a lot of people following you during club championships.”
“I’ve won 38 club championships, and I don’t get to practice much,” Trump said.
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“I beat a 27-year-old kid last year. The fairway doesn’t know how old you are. When you’re walking up the middle, and he’s in the rough, age doesn’t matter.” Just hours before Trump’s golf outing, two National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C., with one, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, losing her life. Trump confirmed her death during the Thursday call with service members.
The National Guard troops were part of a deployment ordered by Trump in August to address crime in the city. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the response would be to add 500 additional troops after the shooting.
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Trump described it as a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for allowing people from Afghanistan into the country, as the suspect is reported to be an Afghan national who had previously served with U.S. troops.
But he didn’t shy away from talking about his golf game when it was brought up during the Thursday call, characterizing himself as “around scratch or better” and mentioning his appearance with Bryson DeChambeau on the LIV Golfer’s Breaking 50 YouTube series. DeChambeau has personally said that Trump was a good golfer and mentioned being surprised by his iron and putting game.
Trump has claimed to be a scratch golfer multiple times(Image: Twitter/X/LindseyGrahamSC)
Trump also said that Biden’s past claim of a six handicap made him “angry” and insisted that Biden “can’t hit a ball 30 yards.” The president said that club championships “are our majors,” and that most people “won’t play in them.”
He further stated that all of his victories required no additional handicap strokes at the beginning of the tournament. He called golf “a microcosm of life” and said, “A lot of people talk, but they can’t play” the game at a high level.
Trump has 18 golf courses worldwide (Image: PA)
Reilly reported that whenever Trump opens one of his golf courses, he plays the first round alone, declares it the club championship, and has his name memorialized on the wall. Trump’s golf portfolio includes seven public courses, 10 private courses, and four resorts.
Celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Anderson, Suzann Pettersen, Alice Cooper, Oscar De La Hoya, and Mike Tirico have all publicly accused Trump of cheating during rounds. Reilly has referenced several online videos that seem to show Trump’s caddies helping him find better positions during matches.
