A "very good player" named Donald Trump!
The American president, who has already spent 153 days on the courses since his inauguration, can boast of having a better swing than his predecessors.
Sunday, September 2, in a cathedral in Washington, hundreds of Americans including Barack Obama and George W. Bush pay tribute to John McCain during his funeral. At the same time, a handful of kilometers away, Donald Trump left the White House and headed for the Sterling golf course in Virginia, triggering a lively controversy across the Atlantic.
Yet the scene recalls another. In August 2014, his predecessor Barack Obama made a short speech from his summer resort in Massachusetts to denounce the beheading of an American journalist by the Islamic State. A few minutes later, he too goes to a golf course. In the process, Obama drew many criticisms and tried to play down the drama a day later on NBC. "I should have anticipated the effect it would have," he blurted out.
"Since September 11, the security of presidents has been reinforced," explains Nicole Bacharan, historian specializing in the United States *. And among the new measures, Obama was banned from jogging outdoors like Bill Clinton did. On the other hand, it is easier to secure a golf course. But this explanation did not protect him from controversy. "Obama is playing golf to escape while the United States sinks," wrote a certain Donald Trump on Twitter in December 2011.
"A tonic and aggressive swing"
Obama and Trump carry on a long tradition for White House tenants. The Bushes, father and son, and Clintons also used to play golf, an outlet for a few hours out of Washington's glances and hassle. And this is not shocking in the country which has the most practitioners in the world (around 30 million) and where the discipline does not have such an elitist image as in France. Still, of all these presidents, the strongest on a course is Donald Trump.
“Undoubtedly, it is the best, certifies to Point Nicolas Pont, editor-in-chief of Golf Magazine. He has an index that is between 3 and 4 while his predecessors had an index of 11 (Obama) or 12 (Clinton). For an amateur, this is a very good level. In golf, Trump has his own style. “He has a fairly short, toned and aggressive swing that sets him apart from Obama who had a fuller, smoother swing. "
Already 153 days spent on the courses
The current president can also boast of a "drive" (generally the stroke at the start of the hole) between 200 and 220 meters, a "good performance for a 72-year-old player", adds Nicolas Pont who specifies that Trump is surveying golf car routes. The tenant of the White House would also have a "good putting" on the greens.
Moreover, in order not to lose control, the editor-in-chief of Golf magazine explains that "you have to play at least once a week". Donald Trump is doing it with even more diligence. The American president does not really count his hours on the golf courses: since he was invested in the White House, he has played golf 153 times, or more than 20% of his time. The bill for these "exits" has already cost US taxpayers more than $ 77 million. And some escapades on the greens do not go unnoticed, such as when he preferred to play his golf course in Scotland (Trump has about ten courses) in the middle of the G7.
Play less golf? " It's never going to happen "
This time-consuming habit, however, did not have a major impact on its popularity on the other side of the Atlantic. "The anti-Trump already hate him and his supporters will say that it is just another unjust attack found by the media," explains Nicole Bacharan. Nevertheless, some draw the parallel between President Trump's solitary exercise of power and his practice of golf - an individual sport if there is one.
Either way, Donald Trump - who sometimes tweets to comment on golf competitions - never raised the idea of going less to the courses in the future. “It will never happen, certifies Nicole Bacharan. Since taking office, he has "retreated" only twice, after the Charlottesville demonstration and following the controversy over the children of migrants withdrawn from their parents. And Trump did it reluctantly, too! It is not the practice of golf, which he appreciates so much, that he will question! "
