US President Donald Trump is once again under fire for his golf course antics, after a video surfaced online allegedly showing him improving on his lying skills during a round at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
Trump was spotted teeing off with his son Eric Trump and US Ambassador Warren Stephens at the luxury course, even as trade talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were reportedly scheduled during the same trip.
But it wasn’t the diplomatic talks that stirred social media.
A now-viral clip, recorded during Saturday’s round, shows Trump riding up to a bunker in a golf cart. He is closely followed by a caddie wearing a red vest who appears to toss a ball into the light rough, conveniently avoiding the sand trap. Moments later, Trump walks over and hits from the freshly placed ball, seemingly unaware or unbothered by the camera.
An X user wrote, “Trump caught cheating at golf, watch the second guy in the red vest toss a ball behind him.”
Another remarked, “First he cheated on his wife with children, and now he’s cheating at golf. What low will he not stoop to?”
A third simply quipped, “Trump working hard to bring down grocery prices.”
While the footage does not conclusively prove wrongdoing, it has reignited the debate around Trump’s sportsmanship.
It has also fueled a new wave of criticism against the Republican leader, who has long claimed to love the game. Critics are calling this yet another instance of questionable sportsmanship.
Among them is veteran sportswriter Rick Reilly, who has accused Trump of being “the worst cheat ever” on the golf course.
In his book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, Reilly detailed several alleged incidents of Trump manipulating shots and bending the rules. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, the former Sports Illustrated columnist said, “Golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man. And golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president.”
Reilly, who has played with Trump, told The Spun that the president would "cheat you on the course and then buy you lunch." He also recalled Trump taking unearned chip-ins and insisting he "cannot lose," doing "anything to cheat."
The White House has yet to issue a comment on the incident, and Trump himself has remained silent on the allegations.
Meanwhile, critics have also questioned Trump’s priorities during the trip, pointing out that he appears to be spending more time on the fairway at Turnberry and Aberdeen than in formal diplomatic meetings.
The video may not make its way to a rulebook, but for many, it’s a revealing snapshot of a leader whose relationship with golf seems to mirror his approach to politics: competitive, chaotic, and rarely boring.
