Donald Trump is renowned for his obsession with golf, but now it would appear that he is letting it influence some of his presidential decisions, having offered another pardon following a recent round
12:25 ET, 10 Dec 2025Updated 12:25 ET, 10 Dec 2025
Donald Trump is renowned for his love of golf, but he has now seemingly used it to influence a major decision
U.S. President Donald Trump has come under heavy fire after pardoning a sports executive in one of his Justice Department’s biggest cases regarding arena bid-rigging.
President Trump had promised to crack down on bad behavior in the ticketing and concert industry to help bring down prices for American fans after returning to office earlier this year; yet, it seems those sentiments went straight out the window following a round of golf with Republican former Rep. Trey Gowdy last month.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gowdy, who had drooled over the 79-year-old’s golf swing earlier this year amid allegations of cheating on the links, is said to have raised the subject of Tim Leiweke’s case during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago on November 16.
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This ultimately led to Trump being persuaded to grant the entertainment businessman a pardon, thereby hampering one of his Justice Department’s major battles against the ticketing and concert industry.
Leiweke had faced charges of rigging the bid for a $375 million basketball arena built for the University of Texas in 2018, with prosecutors alleging that he had promised business to a company co-founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to keep that firm from competing to develop the arena in Austin, Texas.
Lieweke had previously pleaded not guilty, but he will now be cleared of all alleged wrongdoing as a result of a conversation Trump had with Gowdy on the golf course just a few weeks ago.
Trump has pardoned sports executive Tim Leiweke, who had faced charges of rigging the bid for a $375 million basketball arena built for the University of Texas in 2018
As per the WSJ, Gowdy said in an interview that Trump had asked him if there was anything he needed, to which the former prosecutor brought up his client’s case, first asking for help getting a meeting with one of the federal prosecutors handling it.
Over the next few weeks, Gowdy advocated for Leiweke to be granted his own non-prosecution deal; yet, in the end, Trump issued a pardon instead.
“I am extremely grateful that the president allowed me to raise that issue with him, and he is the president, and whatever decision was made after that, he was elected to make, I was not,” Gowdy said.
As a result, the president had been criticized with claims his golf course discussion may have influenced his big decisions. While it is no secret that the former property tycoon has a genuine love for the sport, there were never any expectations that it would have such an influence on his presidential duties.
Gowdy is said to have raised the subject of Leiweke’s case during his round of golf with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on November 16
“Why is he making decisions on the golf course?” one fan posted on X. “Not surprising, but don’t like it,” said another. “This shouldn’t be happening. Stuff like this is too important,” wrote a third.
A fourth person added: “Another pardon, another GOP representative owned by Trump, another millionaire owned by Trump. And all owe him huge favors in the future. This is the new government. Congress needs to legislate out these kind of pardons, this is a top priority. Why waste DOJ money prosecuting?”
Leiweke, 68, previously oversaw NBA teams including the Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors. Following his pardon, he told WSJ he plans to move forward with a new company and purchase a sports team. “I’m going to do it again. I’m not dead yet,” he said.
