Latest news with #SeniorClubChampionship
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Why in the world do people love golf?
We have already tumbled past the first 100 days of the second Trump presidency, careening down the hill with reckless abandon. One hundred days is, of course, a totally arbitrary milestone – a nice, round number that looks monumental because of the number of zeros attached. With inflation and looming tariffs continuing to hobble commerce, shouldn't we extend this marker in kind? If you go by the rate of inflation since the final year before Donald Trump's ascension to power, we should be looking at the first 133.25 days. Time itself is arbitrary, speeding up or slowing down based on context and personal perception. A minute can feel like an eternity if you're stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard. And there's no pastime more connected to the elasticity of time than golf – a pastoral game where there's no clock regulating speed, just a common sense of politeness for your fellow golfers and the slowly setting sun. It's a game American presidents have loved for decades, but one that especially tickles the current occupant of the office. Of Trump's first 100 days in office this go 'round, he's spent parts of 40 of them (and 12 of 14 weekends) on one of his personal properties, offering the president a chance to indulge in his favorite sport. After his tariff announcement on 2 April, Trump was spotted hitting balls at Mar-a-Lago. 'The president won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow,' declared a White House statement. I wonder if they'd have issued the remarks if he had lost. Maybe they would have revised their words to soften the blow. 'The President competed rigorously, showed grace and honor, and at one point miraculously revived a man who fainted in the blistering heat with a mere touch to his forehead.' Or maybe they would have disputed the results of the match entirely. Just last weekend, Trump golfed with the Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, ahead of the Eagles' visit to the White House to commemorate their victory in last year's Super Bowl. Barkley took heat for whacking balls with Trump, but he doubled down on his incredulous enthusiasm at his good fortune on X. 'lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed [sic] and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT. Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago … and look forward to finishing my round with Trump! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing [sic] day.' The implication Barkley is making is that golf is inherently apolitical, that as soon as you step on the course, nothing matters but the fun of the afternoon. Maybe there's an element of truth to that notion that golf is a great equalizer – a sport where power dynamics are flattened and participants give themselves up to the whims of the natural world. Or not. I don't understand golf. I don't love it. But I don't hate it, either. I have played golf multiple times. I was even gifted a set of clubs by my golf-loving father when I turned 13. I have no true antipathy toward the game. I'm simply mystified by its appeal to the rich and connected and the average citizen alike. Golf can be played at a tony country club or a ratty nine-hole near the freeway with a six-pack of Bud Light always at the ready. OK, maybe I understand that last bit, but I just don't get why Trump is so enamored with this game that he'll carve out significant chunks of time in the twilight of his life to pursue it. Granted, golf requires patience, years of practice, and mental acuity. So does knitting. Why doesn't Trump sit at home making a lovely blanket for his wife to curl up with on the couch during The White Lotus? He could perfect the art of making gluten-free zucchini bread, then hand it out to White House staffers and ask them how much they love the carob chips he sprinkled throughout the loaf? Imagine Volodymyr Zelenskyy biting into the sweet and savory goodness of a nice slice of zucchini bread while Trump pontificates about the ceding of territory to Russia. At least Zelenskyy would have something to take home in a Tupperware container after getting shafted. Golf is a game where futility is expected, where failure is right around the corner, and frustration is always simmering. The most exciting part of golf is hitting the ball, but the rules encourage you to hit the damn thing less, not more. Instead, most of the time during a golf game, you're pondering, or worse yet, idly chit-chatting. The old saying goes: 'golf is a good walk spoiled.' But is the walk even that good? A good walk is one where you see something unexpected, you bump into an old friend, or you have a chance to truly ruminate on the state of your life. A good walk is restorative and life-affirming. A golf course is not a pedestrian haven. It's a zoo for people in polo shirts. You basically wander around in a circle for four hours, just to end up back where you started – a clubhouse with overpriced food and gaudy furniture. In that sense, it might actually be the perfect game for Trump. His tenure in the White House has felt like a particularly rough round of 18 holes. Decisions, like a tiny golf ball, blown haphazardly around by the wind. Traps laid out with the explicit purpose of screwing things up for you. A journey to nowhere that ends with disappointment. And like golf, despite all the evidence to the contrary, people line up to do it all over again anyway. Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump traveled little in his first 100 days, preferring to spend time at Mar-a-Lago
President Donald Trump enacted massive tariffs on April 2 that plunged the stock market into disarray, threatened a trade war and shook consumer confidence. As the nation reeled, Trump left the White House for the weekend — not to drum up support for the policies around the country, but to travel to Mar-a-Lago. Then he hit the links. As headlines screamed about the possibility of soaring prices and global economic instability, the White House issued a statement: 'The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.' The chasm between the uneasiness Americans were expressing and Trump's actions couldn't have been more vast. But again and again, that is how Trump's presidency has played out. Overall, in the first 100 days of his administration, Trump spent parts of 40 days on his personal properties, all the while forgoing the kinds of interactions with voters on which he built his political persona and which, typically, a new president taps to build support for his new agenda. In Washington during the week, he has pushed the boundaries of his presidential power, with policies that have the potential to abruptly transform the lives of millions of people. As the weekend nears, he heads to one of his private residences, usually Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, where he tends to spend the winter months. Since Trump has taken office, he has spent 12 of 14 weekends at one of his own properties, according to an NBC News tracker. On nine of the 14 weekends, he has overnighted at Mar-a-Lago, where he can often be found on his golf courses in West Palm Beach or Jupiter. 'It's like a gambler who bet it all on black and then walks away when the roulette wheel spins and the rest of the county watches how things will turn out,' said Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett, a former Trump administration official. So far this term, Trump has gone around the country — where he could have face time with voters or local businesses — less frequently than he did during the same period during his first term in 2017; former President Joe Biden made more visits outside Washington during his first 100 days. At one point in February, Trump spent parts of six consecutive days at Mar-a-Lago, leading some federal workers to complain that he was 'working from home' even as he ordered them back to the office five days a week. Trump has enjoyed going to some sporting events — like the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 and a UFC fight in Miami — but generally, he has quickly returned to one of his own residences. Trump's frequent stays at his personal residences are playing out as he has enacted an extraordinary transformation in domestic and foreign policy. He has signed more than 100 executive orders, gone to war with universities and powerful law firms, shuttered entire government agencies, fired thousands of federal workers and greenlighted extreme measures to carry out deportations. He has enacted — then suspended — tariffs, sending the markets tumbling and risking a recession. If polling is any indication of a president's need to hit the road to build support with different constituencies, it's showing. His approval numbers have slid since he took office, particularly over the economy, which was long his most consistent favorable issue. An NBC News Stay Tuned poll released Sunday found that 55% of American adults disapprove of how Trump is handling his job, and the ferocity of the opposition outweighed the intensity of support from his MAGA base. A Fox News poll released last week found Trump had a 56% disapproval rating among voters and was underwater in every category — including immigration — except border security, on which 55% of voters approved. 'Trump rallies have been replaced with almost daily announcements of policy statements from the Oval. But afterward, he is not in the weeds on policy details — he is on the putting greens. He has taken a massive gamble on transforming the county around trade but with no clear vision or communication of what the end result looks like,' Bartlett said. A White House official said Trump is hunkered down all week in Washington focused on two main issues: border security and lowering inflation. He has signed a record number of executive orders and talks to the media every day, the official said. He will spend his 100th day in office visiting the battleground state of Michigan, which was part of the so-called Democratic blue wall that he toppled in November. On Saturday, he and first lady Melania Trump traveled to Italy for Pope Francis' funeral, and Trump plans to soon visit the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Asked whether a ramp-up in domestic travel was in the works, the official said Trump is expected to focus on trade, peace and budget deals in the near future. A White House spokesperson cast Trump's tack as 'bringing America' to Washington. 'President Trump is hard at work delivering on his promises to the American people. He has signed over 100 Executive Orders in 80 days, which is what the public desperately wanted after four years of incompetence and weakness under Joe Biden,' White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. 'Meanwhile, this President is bringing America to the Nation's Capital by holding numerous events alongside blue collar workers, educators, parents, and families, and regularly taking questions from local and national press. President Trump is leading the most active, transparent administration in history, which is why his approval is higher than ever before.' Trump's second term started out differently. Just after his inauguration, Trump launched a rapid-fire domestic tour, surveying flood damage in North Carolina and fire damage in California before he landed in Las Vegas — all on Jan. 24. 'I wanted to thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a big win,' Trump told a screaming crowd at a rally the next day. He went on to spend the weekend at the Trump National Doral property in Florida. The following weekend, he traveled to his primary residence, Mar-a-Lago. The next weekend he did the same. And the next. And the next. Trump also took a far different tack on domestic travel in 2017. Then, within his first 100 days, he visited Newport News, Virginia, and he vowed from the deck of an aircraft carrier to strengthen the military. He dropped by a Boeing assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina, held a rally in Nashville, Tennessee, and talked about manufacturing in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Biden, whom Trump relentlessly assails as 'Sleepy Joe,' traveled the country far more than Trump in his first 100 days. In the same period, Biden held events across the country, including in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, and he visited Texas after a historic winter storm. Biden, however, was also notorious for spending his weekends at home in Delaware. In August 2021, he drew national ire when he was to embark on a vacation at the same time of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; he ended up cutting the vacation short. Trump dispatches his messages through frequent appearances before news cameras in the White House and is known to even call reporters for impromptu interviews — none of which were trademarks of Biden. By contrast, Biden's interactions with the media were infrequent, and encounters were typically brief and tightly controlled. Brandon Scholz, a former Republican Party chair in Wisconsin who has opposed Trump in the past, said Trump most likely hasn't taken to a road show for a simple reason: No one is clamoring for it. He pointed to boisterous, often adversarial town halls held by members of Congress whose constituents are livid over the administration's policies. Scholz argued that if Republicans thought Trump's policies were popular, he might have visited Wisconsin before the early April state Supreme Court election, which his top donor, billionaire Elon Musk, and affiliated groups sank $21 million into to back the conservative candidate. The liberal candidate won by 10 percentage points. 'Travel is just not part of the Trump world right now,' Scholz said. 'Why would you go to these places and get the s--- beat out of you? You wouldn't. So they don't.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
28-04-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Trump traveled little in his first 100 days, preferring to spend time at Mar-a-Lago
President Donald Trump enacted massive tariffs on April 2 that plunged the stock market into disarray, threatened a trade war and shook consumer confidence. As the nation reeled, Trump left the White House for the weekend — not to drum up support for the policies around the country, but to travel to Mar-a-Lago. Then he hit the links. As headlines screamed about the possibility of soaring prices and global economic instability, the White House issued a statement: 'The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.' The chasm between the uneasiness Americans were expressing and Trump's actions couldn't have been more vast. But again and again, that is how Trump's presidency has played out. Overall, in the first 100 days of his administration, Trump spent parts of 40 days on his personal properties, all the while forgoing the kinds of interactions with voters on which he built his political persona and which, typically, a new president taps to build support for his new agenda. In Washington during the week, he has pushed the boundaries of his presidential power, with policies that have the potentia l to abruptly transform the lives of millions of people. As the weekend nears, he heads to one of his private residences, usually Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, where he tends to spend the winter months. Since Trump has taken office, he has spent 12 of 14 weekends at one of his own properties, according to an NBC News tracker. On nine of the 14 weekends, he has overnighted at Mar-a-Lago, where he can often be found on his golf courses in West Palm Beach or Jupiter. 'It's like a gambler who bet it all on black and then walks away when the roulette wheel spins and the rest of the county watches how things will turn out,' said Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett, a former Trump administration official. So far this term, Trump has gone around the country — where he could have face time with voters or local businesses — less frequently than he did during the same period during his first term in 2017; former President Joe Biden made more visits outside Washington during his first 100 days. At one point in February, Trump spent parts of six consecutive days at Mar-a-Lago, leading some federal workers to complain that he was 'working from home' even as he ordered them back to the office five days a week. Trump has enjoyed going to some sporting events — like the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 and a UFC fight in Miami — but generally, he has quickly returned to one of his own residences. Trump's frequent stays at his personal residences are playing out as he has enacted an extraordinary transformation in domestic and foreign policy. He has signed more than 100 executive orders, gone to war with universities and powerful law firms, shuttered entire government agencies, fired thousands of federal workers and greenlighted extreme measures to carry out deportations. He has enacted — then suspended — tariffs, sending the markets tumbling and risking a recession. If polling is any indication of a president's need to hit the road to build support with different constituencies, it's showing. His approval numbers have slid since he took office, particularly over the economy, which was long his most consistent favorable issue. An NBC News Stay Tuned poll released Sunday found that 55% of American adults disapprove of how Trump is handling his job, and the ferocity of the opposition outweighed the intensity of support from his MAGA base. A Fox News poll released last week found Trump had a 56% disapproval rating among voters and was underwater in every category — including immigration — except border security, on which 55% of voters approved. 'Trump rallies have been replaced with almost daily announcements of policy statements from the Oval. But afterward, he is not in the weeds on policy details — he is on the putting greens. He has taken a massive gamble on transforming the county around trade but with no clear vision or communication of what the end result looks like,' Bartlett said. A White House official said Trump is hunkered down all week in Washington focused on two main issues: border security and lowering inflation. He has signed a record number of executive orders and talks to the media every day, the official said. He will spend his 100th day in office visiting the battleground state of Michigan, which was part of the so-called Democratic blue wall that he toppled in November. On Saturday, he and first lady Melania Trump traveled to Italy for Pope Francis' funeral, and Trump plans to soon visit the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Asked whether a ramp-up in domestic travel was in the works, the official said Trump is expected to focus on trade, peace and budget deals in the near future. A White House spokesperson cast Trump's tack as 'bringing America' to Washington. 'President Trump is hard at work delivering on his promises to the American people. He has signed over 100 Executive Orders in 80 days, which is what the public desperately wanted after four years of incompetence and weakness under Joe Biden,' White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. 'Meanwhile, this President is bringing America to the Nation's Capital by holding numerous events alongside blue collar workers, educators, parents, and families, and regularly taking questions from local and national press. President Trump is leading the most active, transparent administration in history, which is why his approval is higher than ever before.' Trump's second term started out differently. Just after his inauguration, Trump launched a rapid-fire domestic tour, surveying flood damage in North Carolina and fire damage in California before he landed in Las Vegas — all on Jan. 24. 'I wanted to thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a big win,' Trump told a screaming crowd at a rally the next day. He went on to spend the weekend at the Trump National Doral property in Florida. The following weekend, he traveled to his primary residence, Mar-a-Lago. The next weekend he did the same. And the next. And the next. Trump also took a far different tack on domestic travel in 2017. Then, within his first 100 days, he visited Newport News, Virginia, and he vowed from the deck of an aircraft carrier to strengthen the military. He dropped by a Boeing assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina, held a rally in Nashville, Tennessee, and talked about manufacturing in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Biden, whom Trump relentlessly assails as 'Sleepy Joe,' traveled the country far more than Trump in his first 100 days. In the same period, Biden held events across the country, including in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, and he visited Texas after a historic winter storm. Biden, however, was also notorious for spending his weekends at home in Delaware. In August 2021, he drew national ire when he was to embark on a vacation at the same time of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; he ended up cutting the vacation short. Trump dispatches his messages through frequent appearances before news cameras in the White House and is known to even call reporters for impromptu interviews — none of which were trademarks of Biden. By contrast, Biden's interactions with the media were infrequent, and encounters were typically brief and tightly controlled. Brandon Scholz, a former Republican Party chair in Wisconsin who has opposed Trump in the past, said Trump most likely hasn't taken to a road show for a simple reason: No one is clamoring for it. He pointed to boisterous, often adversarial town halls held by members of Congress whose constituents are livid over the administration's policies. Scholz argued that if Republicans thought Trump's policies were popular, he might have visited Wisconsin before the early April state Supreme Court election, which his top donor, billionaire Elon Musk, and affiliated groups sank $21 million into to back the conservative candidate. The liberal candidate won by 10 percentage points. 'Travel is just not part of the Trump world right now,' Scholz said. 'Why would you go to these places and get the s--- beat out of you? You wouldn't. So they don't.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The White House says Trump's weight and 'frequent victories' at golf games are evidence of good health
The White House released the results of President Donald Trump's annual physical exam. Trump's doctor said the 78-year-old is in "excellent health." Trump has often touted his victories at golf tournaments held at his own golf clubs. President Donald Trump's doctor said in a medical report released on Sunday that the 78-year-old is in "excellent health" and is "fully fit to execute the duties of Commander-in-Chief." "President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function," White House physician Sean Barbabella wrote in his report. Barbabella wrote that Trump had his annual physical exam on Friday and agreed to release his medical report to the public. "I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on April 7, days before the examination. Barbabella's report said Trump weighs 224 pounds, 20 pounds lighter than Trump's last physical exam as president in 2020. "His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being," Barbabella wrote. "President Trump's days include participation in multiple meetings, public appearances, press availability, and frequent victories in golf events." Trump has often touted his victories at golf tournaments organized by his own clubs. Trump told reporters on April 6 that he won the Senior Club Championship held at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. "You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won?" Trump said, adding that he had a "very low handicap." As promised on Friday, President Trump's Annual Physical Examination Results: — Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 13, 2025 On Friday, Trump told reporters he thought he "did well" for the physical exam. "I felt I was in very good shape. A good heart, a good soul, a very good soul," Trump said on Friday. Trump is the oldest elected president and will be 82 when he leaves office in January 2029. He was also the oldest presidential candidate after President Joe Biden dropped out of the election in July. Biden was 81 when he halted his reelection campaign. In 2015, the Trump campaign released a letter by his then-physician, Harold Bornstein, about his health. Trump was 69 at the time and in the midst of his first presidential campaign. In his letter, Bornstein wrote that Trump's "laboratory test results were astonishingly excellent" and "his physical strength and stamina are extraordinary." Bornstein later told CNN Trump had written the letter himself. "He dictated that whole letter," Bornstein said in 2018. "I didn't write that letter." "I just made it up as I went along," Bornstein added. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The White House says Trump's weight and 'frequent victories' at golf games are evidence of good health
The White House released the results of President Donald Trump's annual physical exam. Trump's doctor said the 78-year-old is in "excellent health." Trump has often touted his victories at golf tournaments held at his own golf clubs. President Donald Trump's doctor said in a medical report released on Sunday that the 78-year-old is in "excellent health" and is "fully fit to execute the duties of Commander-in-Chief." "President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function," White House physician Sean Barbabella wrote in his report. Barbabella wrote that Trump had his annual physical exam on Friday and agreed to release his medical report to the public. "I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on April 7, days before the examination. Barbabella's report said Trump weighs 224 pounds, 20 pounds lighter than Trump's last physical exam as president in 2020. "His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being," Barbabella wrote. "President Trump's days include participation in multiple meetings, public appearances, press availability, and frequent victories in golf events." Trump has often touted his victories at golf tournaments organized by his own clubs. Trump told reporters on April 6 that he won the Senior Club Championship held at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. "You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won?" Trump said, adding that he had a "very low handicap." On Friday, Trump told reporters he thought he "did well" for the physical exam. "I felt I was in very good shape. A good heart, a good soul, a very good soul," Trump said on Friday. Trump is the oldest elected president and will be 82 when he leaves office in January 2029. He was also the oldest presidential candidate after President Joe Biden dropped out of the election in July. Biden was 81 when he halted his reelection campaign. In 2015, the Trump campaign released a letter by his then-physician, Harold Bornstein, about his health. Trump was 69 at the time and in the midst of his first presidential campaign. In his letter, Bornstein wrote that Trump's "laboratory test results were astonishingly excellent" and "his physical strength and stamina are extraordinary." Bornstein later told CNN Trump had written the letter himself. "He dictated that whole letter," Bornstein said in 2018. "I didn't write that letter." "I just made it up as I went along," Bornstein added. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider
