Trump Accepts Honorary Chairmanship of Presidents Cup Despite Long History of Feuding With PGA Tour
Key Takeaways
- •Trump accepted the honorary chairmanship of the Presidents Cup, which will be held at Medinah Country Club in Chicago at the end of September.
- •Trump said he accepted the role at the request of PGA Tour Commissioner Brian Rolapp, who took over in 2025 after a career as an NFL executive, succeeding Jay Monahan.
- •The PGA had avoided Trump's golf courses for roughly a decade after his presidential run, including moving a long-running event from his Doral course to Mexico City.
- •Critics highlighted the timing of the event just weeks before the midterm elections and noted Trump has spent 130 days of his second term golfing, despite an earlier pledge to play little golf as president.
President Donald Trump announced that he is accepting an honorary chairmanship of the PGA Tour's upcoming Presidents Cup in Chicago.
In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump touted the upcoming event — even though the PGA shunned Trump's golf courses for a decade after his presidential run, and even moved one long-running event from his Doral golf course to Mexico City.
"At the request of the PGA Tour, and its Great new Commissioner, Brian Rolapp, it is my Honor to accept being the Honorary Chairman of the upcoming Presidents Cup, which will take place at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago," Trump wrote. "This will be a particularly exciting event."
Rolapp took over as PGA Tour commissioner in 2025 after a long career as a senior executive at the NFL, succeeding Jay Monahan, who led the tour through its contentious standoff and eventual framework agreement with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. The Presidents Cup, a biennial team match-play event pairing a U.S. squad against an international team of players from outside Europe, has been staged at Medinah before — the Chicago-area club hosted the 2012 edition, remembered for the European-styled comeback in the Ryder Cup held there in 2012 as well as its long major-championship history.
He added that both PGA "teams are 'loaded' with Talent," though it was unclear what he was quoting. "I look forward to being there, and greeting all of these fantastic athletes, on both teams!" he wrote.
The Presidents Cup will be held at the end of September, just a few weeks before the midterms. PatriotTakes, an outlet that reports on right-wing extremism, scoffed at the timing, writing, "Just ahead of the midterms, Trump will be heavily focused on a multi-day golf tournament at a country club."
Podcaster Jason Levin noted in a post on X that Trump sounded like he was "accepting an honorary golf title like it's a NATO appointment" and "signed off a golf announcement like he was vetoing a bill." Levin described the announcement as "peak 2026 energy."
Political commentator Molly Ploofkins pointed out that Trump once said about his presidency, "I'm not going to be playing much golf, believe me. If I win this, I'm not going to be playing much golf." In a post shortly after Trump's announcement, Ploofkins wrote that "today marks the 130th day of Trump's second term that he has spent golfing."
Trump followed his PGA Tour announcement by posting a picture of Education Secretary Linda McMahon with her daughter Stephanie McMahon and NASA administrator Jared Isaacman.
