The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California joined in with an online barrage of claims that President Donald Trump was caught on camera cheating at golf.
The 79-year-old president made time for a round or two while in Scotland visiting his own golf course in Turnberry. However footage from a game on Sunday prompted much debate online.
Two men in red vests bearing the name of the Trump Turnberry Resort are seen walking ahead of the president—who is driving a golf buggy—as they approach a bunker.
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One man appears to lean down and toss a ball behind him and towards Trump, who is getting out of the golf cart.
Newsom’s press office re-posted the video on X Sunday with the caption, “Trump. Rigging the game. We’re shocked!”
Sportswriter Rick Reilly, who authored the book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, posted on X, “Well I’m just personally very disappointed in him.”
The author added, “His caddies also tee him up in the rough, toss his ball out of bunkers, and roll back six footers to him. How else is a 79-year-old fat guy supposed to win championships?”
Reilly said in 2023, “Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf. He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs.” He claims that at one club Trump kicked his golf ball so far he was nicknamed Pele after the soccer player.
However some users claimed the viral footage from Scotland was not cheating, merely a drop–known as a “provisional”–after a ball was hit out of bounds.
MSNBC contributor Sam Stein also suggested on X that Trump’s golf ball could have been stuck in the fescue-which is a longer, drought-resistant grass used in many golf courses in the rough or around bunkers.
“Lol, Love the caddie casually dropping the ball on to the rough (presumably he had it in the fescue) and Trump just playing it,” Stein wrote. “So good.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Gov. Newsom and the White House for comment.
Earlier this month, The Times of London quoted a caddie at Trump International Golf Club in Florida who said the president has serious skills as a golfer.
“I’ve seen him win club championships sinking 60ft putts,” John Nieporte said. “I’ve seen him shoot 66 out here on this golf course.”
The president does have a history of having his golf prowess questioned, though.
As far back as 2016, actor Samuel L. Jackson said he was a better golfer than Trump because, “I don’t cheat.”
Trump replied on Twitter, “I don’t cheat at golf but Samuel L. Jackson cheats—with his game he has no choice—and stop doing commercials!”
In January this year, The Palm Beach Post reported that Trump was crowned winner of the Senior Club Championship at the Trump International course in West Palm Beach, however nobody saw him play. It is one of a number of questionable wins this year.
The president owns two golf resorts in Scotland: Trump Turnberry in the west, and Trump International, about 200 miles away in the north.
