It started as a simple Thanksgiving chat with troops—but quickly turned into one of the most bizarre golf monologues ever broadcast from a U.S. president.
During a livestreamed holiday call connecting with American military bases worldwide, 79-year-old Donald Trump was asked what seemed like a lighthearted question: just how good is he at golf—and would he ever face off against Joe Biden on the course? That’s when the conversation swerved into the rough.
Trump claimed that he had once invited Biden to a friendly match, but the current president never accepted. When pressed about his own handicap, Trump sidestepped specifics, insisting only that his score was “much better” than Biden’s. He launched into an extended humblebrag about his decades of golfing glory, adding that all of his tournament wins—dozens, by his count—were completely “legitimate.”
According to the site DidTrumpGolfToday.com, the president has spent roughly one in every four days of his current term on the golf course. Even amid political storms, he’s kept his tee times. Over the summer, he was spotted hitting the links while his supporters raged about his administration’s failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Again in the fall, as the nation endured a record-breaking government shutdown, Trump was reportedly golfing through the weekend.
Before the golf tangent, the Thanksgiving call had taken a serious turn when Trump confirmed the death of a National Guard member shot near the White House. But the solemn tone vanished moments later as he began defending his swing and tournament history. “I’ve won 38 club championships,” he boasted. “Last year I beat a 27-year-old at a big club championship, and I told him, ‘The fairway doesn’t care about age.’” Trump described his handicap only as “very low,” leaving room for interpretation—but plenty of skepticism.
Rumors that Trump bends the rules on the green aren’t new. For years, fellow golfers and journalists have accused him of creative scorekeeping—allegedly moving balls out of the rough, tossing opponents’ shots into bunkers, and granting himself overly generous ‘gimme’ putts. Rick Reilly’s book Commander in Cheat detailed these claims, which The Times of London later echoed. Likewise, The Palm Beach Post noted that Trump often claims victories in club tournaments that he hasn’t fully played—or where few witnesses saw him compete.
When asked about these reports during the Thanksgiving call, Trump doubled down, asserting that “every win was earned, fair and square.” Then came the predictable swipe at Biden. “Biden can’t even hit the ball 30 yards,” Trump said with a laugh, recalling their 2024 debate exchange about handicaps. “He said he was a 6. I told him, ‘You’re not a 6.’ Then he said, ‘Well, I’m an 8.’ I said, ‘That was quick—you just gained two strokes.’ But he’s not even close to a hundred.”
That debate moment had briefly gone viral, with Biden joking that he’d improved his game back when he was vice president. At the time, golf professionals who reviewed footage of both men’s swings told The Daily Beast that Trump was indeed a competent player for his age—but not at the championship level he often suggests.
And here’s where opinion splits. Was this just another lighthearted Trump tangent, or a glimpse of the ego that fuels his public persona? Some say it’s part of his charm—unfiltered, competitive, unapologetically proud. Others see it as another example of a leader unable to separate fact from self-promotion.
But what do you think? Should presidents’ private hobbies be fair game for public debate—or does it reveal something deeper about how they handle pressure, pride, and perception? Drop your take in the comments—because this conversation is far from over.