President Donald Trump has been accused of cheating in golf after footage of him on the course went viral on social media.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email outside working hours.
Why It Matters
Accusations around Trump’s conduct in recreational settings, such as golf, often serve as a proxy for debates about personal integrity, transparency and the public persona of presidents.
Critics and commentators have seized on the footage to revisit earlier claims of golfing misconduct, while supporters have either dismissed the incident or called for more context. The video has reignited public debate over alleged cheating by Trump on the golf course, an accusation that has followed him for decades.
What To Know
The video shows two of Trump’s caddies walking ahead of his golf cart before one appears to drop a ball on the course.
The president then gets out of his golf cart and walks toward the ball, seemingly as if it were his original shot.
The snippet does not show what happens after that point.
The clip appears to have originally been posted by PatriotTakes, an X account that has long been critical of Trump and Republicans and which describes itself as “exposing right-wing extremism and other threats to democracy.” The post has more than 3.8 million views.
Republicans Against Trump, an account dedicated solely to criticizing Trump, has also shared the video in a post that has received more than 1.4 million views.
An X user asked Grok about the clip, “What do you notice?”
The chatbot answered, “In the video, a companion drops a golf ball from the sand trap onto the fairway, allowing an improved lie without penalty—clear evidence of cheating, which aligns with known allegations about Trump’s golf habits.”
User @Bradley_Martin0, a self-described “lifelong Democrat,” wrote: “So he has ‘ball guys’ that just drop it for him anywhere? This is pathetic we pay millions and millions of tax dollars for him to ‘play’ golf? Pathetic.”
Others referenced a 2019 book called Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump by sportswriter Rick Reilly, who interviewed multiple golf pros, caddies, playing partners and former Trump employees to detail allegations of the president’s pattern of cheating in golf.
Some users defended Trump, saying the video could be from a “friendly practice” instead of a game.
User @mbusster wrote, “So he does not want to play out of the sand, I do it all the time.” Similarly, user @ivanhoecheek wrote: “This was not a professional game for money. It was a recreational game. Also, stuff like this happens if the ball is lost.”
President Donald Trump shouts as he plays golf at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland on July 27.
President Donald Trump shouts as he plays golf at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland on July 27.
AP
What People Are Saying
Sportswriter Rick Reilly told Deadline: White House in 2024 about his experience playing golf with Trump: “I’ve always said golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a guy. And what it reveals about this guy is that he cannot lose. He has to win and he will do anything to cheat.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson at the time, told People: “Rick fantasizes about having a golf game as good as President Trump. But instead of putting in the hard work to improve his s****y game, Rick allows his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome to completely take over his life. He should seek urgent medical care before it’s too late.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether Trump will address the incident.
