The official White House Instagram account came under fire on Saturday after it took the liberty of boasting about President Donald Trump’s “winning” golf skills.
The post included a photo of Trump’s scorecard from the Men’s Senior Club Championship at the president’s own golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with Trump in the top position.
“Winning on and off the course,” the White House captioned the image. Commentators were not impressed.
“We’ve seen you play golf. You didn’t win s--t,” one comment read.
“Wtf. Tax payers’ money advertising your golf. How embarrassing,” read another.
“Stop bragging about everything… This is a government page not your own private page. What does the world care about this stuff,” chimed in another Instagram user. It was one of nearly 800 (largely negative) replies.
Trump’s prowess on the golf course has long been a source of speculation. He has reportedly never lost an event at one of his own tournaments and has a litany of title and carding claims that some experts have called into question. However, many professional golfers who have played with the president or studied his games say that he is a strong player.
“Trump’s got game,” wrote Irish Golfer journalist Mark McGowan after watching POTUS play for an hour. “It’s not the prettiest swing, and his putting stroke resembles that of a man getting electrocuted on the follow through, but he gets through the ball amazingly well for a near 80-year-old.”
Still, for years there have been persistent stories that Trump regularly cheats at the game—so much so that there is even a New York Times bestseller about it, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.
Author Rick Reilly fills a tome with the golfing community’s fury over the former reality star’s alleged cheating at the sport, arguing his need to do so is pathological and reveals much about the president.
Dr. Lance Dodes, a Harvard psychiatrist interviewed in the book, says that Trump is “a very ill man” who “exhibits all the traits of a narcissistic personality disorder.”
Still, none of this seems to deter Trump—or the White House—from continuing to regularly boast about his game.
In April, MAGA provocateur Laura Loomer even got in on the game by posting a piece of “breaking” news on X that Trump had just won a championship title at his club in Jupiter, Florida. “Congratulations, President Trump,” she wrote.
When the president was asked about the tournament by reporters later that same day, he shared that it had been a “Very good, because I won.”
“It’s good to win,” Trump added. “You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won? Just to back it up from there, I won. I like to win.”
