Trump’s golf championship win, explained

In between aggressive tariff policies, mass government layoffs and eyebrow-raising diplomatic moves, there’s one item that has always sat atop Donald Trump’s list of priorities; golfing. The president has acquired multiple golf courses over the past two decades, and is regularly spotted on the green of his most frequented course at Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida. So important is golf to Trump that he recently took to social media to gloat about a tournament win at that exact course. 

“I just won the Golf Club Championship, probably my last, at Trump International Golf Club, in Palm Beach County, Florida,” the president recently wrote on Truth Social, adding that it was “such a great honor!” Trump went on to thank the staff involved in the tournament and provide details about the following golf awards dinner, also hosted at Mar-a-Lago golf. While the president adopted a celebratory tone, Trump’s golfing win has been called into question, and so too has his affinity for the hobby more broadly. 

Trump’s golf ‘wins’ can’t always be trusted.

I just won the Golf Club Championship, probably my last, at Trump International Golf Club, in Palm Beach County, Florida. Such a great honor! The Awards dinner is tonight, at the Club. I want to thank the wonderful Golf Staff, and all of the many fantastic golfers, that…

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 16, 2025

Though he boasted about winning this most recent tournament — The Men’s Club Championship which took place on Sunday — Trump’s claims of winning similar tournaments in years’ past have been called into question. In 2023, for example, he took to social media to claim he had won the Senior Club Championship at West Palm Beach, but reports later revealed he had not even played in the first round of the tournament because he was attending a funeral.

According to those reports, Trump told tournament organizers that he had played a strong round two days earlier, and decided that would count as his first-day score. Nonetheless, Trump’s fellow competitors were reportedly shocked to see his name at the top of the leaderboard with a five-point lead, since he hadn’t competed in the first round. Despite the dubiousness of that 2023 golfing win, Trump took to social media to claim that the victory “served as a physical exam, only MUCH tougher.” 

He said golfers “need strength and stamina to WIN” and that politicians “need strength & stamina to GOVERN!” While in that case it was his competitors who were doubtful of his golfing game, they aren’t the only ones who have raised suspicions. In his 2019 book Commander in Cheat, sports writer Rick Reilly investigated the legitimacy of the 18 club championships Trump claimed he had won at the time. Reilly then told Rolling Stone that of those supposed wins, at least “sixteen were lies.”

Trump’s golfing hobby comes at a cost. 

Grok: “The cost of Donald Trump’s golfing during his first term as president is estimated to be around $152 million, according to various reports analyzing his travel and security expenses.” #Trump #golf #doge pic.twitter.com/TZ1OWAWN6t

— FilipMignon (@Filipmignonx) March 6, 2025

Regardless of their trustworthiness, we do know for sure that Trump’s golfing victories come at a cost. The president has already made six trips to his Mar-a-Lago golf course since his inauguration on Jan. 20, with The Guardian reporting that each trip costs approximately $1 million. That’s due to the fact that presidential golf trips require Air Force One travel, as well as extensive U.S. Secret Service protection and security disruptions in the local area. 

In fact, HuffPost reports that as of March 8, 2025, Trump’s Florida golf weekends since his inauguration have cost taxpayers a total of $18 million. When you add these more recent golf excursions to the reported 142 golf trips he took during his first presidential term, the taxpayer cost is even higher, with some estimates totalling over $100 million. In light of his quest to cut government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, these costly golfing expeditions have naturally drawn criticism.   

Trump’s golfing hobby draws consistent criticism. 

34 people are dead. More missing. Devastation across multiple states.

Trump bragging about his golf game.

Disgusting @POTUS pic.twitter.com/0t345LqVZD

— M-A.Stay’Legit™️🇨🇦 (@BagdMilkSoWhat) March 16, 2025

Trump’s recent golf win drew criticism not only for its taxpayer cost, but for its tone-deafness amid severe hurricanes that have battered multiple states and left more than 30 people dead. “Devastation across multiple states. Trump bragging about his golf game,” one X user wrote, with another adding that the president “defines narcissism.”