Eight goats in a pen
More on Trump and golf and what it says about Trump, from the guy who wrote the book.
More than to any wife, more than to any party, more than to any opinion, President Donald Trump has remained fiercely loyal to golf. But I’ve played golf my entire life. Years ago, I even played with Trump once. Whatever sport he’s playing, it isn’t golf.
He cheats. He lies. He kicks. And not just his ball — yours, too. He props up a 2.8 handicap that’s faker than WrestleMania 35. He wins tournaments he never even played in. He wins tournaments that weren’t even held.
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And it’s not just the cheating. It’s the way he plays the game—with all the golf etiquette of an elephant on Red Bull. Trump promised to Make America Great Again. He’s definitely Made Golf Gross Again.
He drives his golf cart on greens. He drives it on tee boxes. He never, ever walks, even on the courses he owns that have banned carts (Trump Turnberry.)
He always hits first, never mind who won the last hole, and then jumps in his Super Mario Kart with his caddy and peels off before you’ve even hit, the better to be 150 yards ahead of you so the two of them can foozle, fudge, and foot-wedge in private.
He plays only at clubs with his name on them and only with caddies who love his $200-a-round tips.
He plays only with rich people.
My book is called Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. So how does golf explain Trump’s presidency? Well …
If Trump will cheat to win $20 from his friends, is it that much further to believe he’d cheat to lower his taxes, win an election, sway an investigation?
If Trump will lie and say one of his courses is worth $50 million while at the same time suing the local tax board for valuing it at more than $2 million—we feel you, Ossining, New York—is it that much further to think he might lie about his taxes, his fixer, his affairs?
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Trump says he’s won 20 club championships. (He hasn’t.) The truth is, he played a lot of those “championships” by himself, the first day his latest course opened, and declared himself the champ. How do I know? He told me the day we played together in the early 2000s.
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Politics: Trump won’t release his taxes.
Golf: If the House ever gets his returns, they should start with his golf write-offs. For instance, did you know Trump keeps eight goats in a pen on his Trump Bedminster course to get an $80,000 farm tax credit?
I did not know that.
While writing my new book about Trump’s cheating, I left calls, emails and even FedEx letters for him and his people and got no replies. Meanwhile, he’s still telling America he’s this champion golfer, and he isn’t. How do I know? Whenever he’s played in front of cameras (Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Tahoe Celebrity), he’s not once made a cut or finished in the top half among the celebs.
Fake news?
You know how I think golf really explains Trump’s presidency?
Because no matter how much he cheats, no matter how many rules of etiquette he violates, the rich and the famous and the powerful continue to play with him. Despite all the shit I hear about how golf is serious business and about honor and integrity because you have to call your own fouls blah blah blah, none of these people who are so passionate about the game seem to say — even long before he was president — “no thanks, Mr. Trump, I don’t play with cheats.” I don’t hear any stories of people walking off the course mid-round because of his antics. Apparently nobody can resist the appeal of playing and having your picture taken with a reality-show clown. (To be fair, I haven’t read Reilley’s book, so perhaps he covers that. But nobody else seems to have written about it)
Well, the ones who do, do. I think I’ve read somewhere that many don’t. There’s a hefty segment of the Filthy Rich Community that despises him but votes for him anyway because $$$.