Donald Trump has been caught up in yet another golfing controversy after a video appeared to show a caddie dropping a ball for him during a round in Scotland.
The US President, currently in Europe and visiting his golf resorts, was playing a few holes at Turnberry when a camera captured the moment one of his caddies seemed to go a step too far in assisting him.
Footage filmed from inside a nearby building shows Trump arriving in a golf cart on the left side of the fairway. A bunker lay between him and the green, with some light fescue to his left. As he pulled up, two caddies walked past — and one of them was seen stopping briefly to drop a ball ahead of Trump.
The 79-year-old stepped out of the cart, club in hand, and strolled over to the freshly placed ball, apparently preparing to take his next shot. The video ends before he swings.
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The clip quickly went viral on social media, sparking fresh accusations of cheating.
“Who needs a foot wedge when you have a personal ball dropper???” joked one user on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another user quipped, “Him and Kim Jong Un would be INSANE scramble partners.”
A commenter who claimed to be a PGA professional added, “Such a perfect metaphor for our Commander-in-Cheat.”
Others mocked the footage with tongue-in-cheek admiration. “Wild… Looks like I need these fellas as Caddies with the way I hit it anymore,” read one post.
This isn’t the first time Trump has been accused of stretching the rules on the golf course.
Does Trump cheat at golf?
Earlier this year, actor Samuel L. Jackson claimed Trump cheated during a round they played together. When asked who had the better game, Jackson replied: “Oh, I am, for sure. I don’t cheat.”
Trump later denied playing with the Pulp Fiction star, insisting on social media that the game never happened.
Actor Anthony Anderson has also made similar accusations. Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2016, Anderson said, “Trump is a great golfer. I’m not going to say Trump cheats. His caddy cheats for him.”
When pressed on whether he’d actually seen Trump cheat, Anderson replied: “Oh yes, several times. Several times.”
He recalled one incident where both he and Trump mis-hit their tee shots. “Trump hit the exact same shot but went 20 yards further left than mine,” he said. “I could not find my ball in this trash. Trump’s ball had the fluffiest lie in the middle of the fairway.”
Anderson added: “Like I say, I didn’t see Trump cheat because he was on the tee-box with me, but his ball was right there in the middle of the fairway.”
Sportswriter Rick Reilly has also written extensively on the subject, claiming in 2019 that Trump regularly kicked or moved his ball to improve his position and even claimed other players’ shots as his own.
Reilly wrote in The Sunday Times that Trump’s caddies had nicknamed him “Pele” because of how often he kicked the ball.
“To say Donald Trump cheats is like saying Michael Phelps swims,” he wrote. “Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf. He cheats like a three-card monte dealer. He throws it, boots it and moves it. Whether you’re his pharmacist or Tiger Woods, if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”