Allegations of cheating at golf have followed President Trump for decades, and a viral video seemingly showing him cheating at Trump Turnberry in Scotland, first shared on July 27, 2025, has been celebrated by Adam Kinzinger.
“This is just epic,” Kinzinger captioned his post, which seemed to show Trump’s caddy drop a ball on the course and then showed Trump about to play the ball like it was his original shot. @PatriotTakes reportedly first shared the clip, an account critical of the president. “Oh, by the way, Epstein,” Kinzinger added in his post when he reshared the video, in keeping with the former Illinois Representative’s recent campaign to keep Trump discourse focused on the Epstein scandal.
So did Trump cheat?
This is just epic oh by the way Epstein https://t.co/2DzlyLydur
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini)(@AdamKinzinger) July 28, 2025
So, what was going on there? The video cuts off and doesn’t show what happens next. But according to X AI chatbot Grok, when asked to interpret the video, “In the video, a companion drops a golf ball from the sand trap onto the fairway, allowing an improved lie without penalty—clear evidence of cheating, which aligns with known allegations about Trump’s golf habits.”
“Playing the ball as it lies” is a fundamental golf principle, and intentionally moving a ball or dropping it in a more favorable position (unless under specific, allowed circumstances, such as an unplayable lie or penalty drop) is generally considered a breach of the rules in competitive play.
Online, some countered that it was a casual, non-competitive practice, thus excusing Trump’s actions. Others defended what appears to happen in the footage as common practice when the ball gets lost, or when a ball lands in the sand and a golfer doesn’t want to play it from there. One response to Kinzinger’s post suggested it was all done for publicity.
Another added, “Playing it where it lies! Operative word being ‘lie’!” And finally, “In any other presidential administration, a sitting president doing this would be the lead story. Instead, this is just a sideshow from what’s really important,” a comment said.
“Commander in Cheat”
The video of Trump’s caddy doing an Oddjob Slazenger drop isn’t a big deal; cheating at golf isn’t nearly the worst thing about Trump.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 27, 2025
But watching the cult of personality try to explain it away is really some creepy North Korean level stuff.
Many of Trump’s golf cheating allegations stem from Rick Reilly’s 2019 book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, in which Reilly wrote, “Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf. He cheats like a three-card monte dealer. He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs.” Cheating accusations aren’t just limited to Reilly, either: Samuel L. Jackson and LPGA player Suzann Pettersen have also accused the president of bending golf’s rules.
However, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told People, “Rick fantasizes about having a golf game as good as President Trump. But instead of putting in the hard work to improve his s—y game, Rick allows his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome to completely take over his life. He should seek urgent medical care before it’s too late.”
Referring to the Turnberry footage, Atlantic writer Tom Nichols said, “The video of Trump’s caddy doing an Oddjob Slazenger drop isn’t a big deal; cheating at golf isn’t nearly the worst thing about Trump.”
“Oddjob” is a James Bond villain who uses a bowler hat with a steel brim to kill people, like a frisbee, implying a surreptitious, illicit act. Nichols added, “But watching the cult of personality try to explain it away is really some creepy North Korean level stuff.”
