Trump’s Golf Outing with Tiger Woods Shouldn’t Be Downplayed

It’s not as if we need any more evidence that Donald Trump is unfit for office. But the fact that he went golfing yet again at one of his properties, this time with Tiger Woods over the long holiday weekend, should raise more red flags.

As MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin pointed out, Saturday marks Trump’s 80th day at a golf club since taking office last January, and his 102nd day spent at one of his own properties.

According to the White House press pool, Trump spent six hours at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL, on Saturday. It was his fourth consecutive day at the club this week.

Per Trump’s own tweets, on Friday, he was at the same club to play with Woods and top–ranked golfer Dustin Johnson. Whatever the motivation for that outing, it’s impossible to overlook the fact that the president has a personal business relationship with Woods. At best, Trump simply doesn’t care about optics. At worst, he’s demonstrating a brazen disregard for ethics.

Back in September, McClatchy News reported on one of those business ties between Trump and Woods. Trump had hired Woods to design an 18–hole golf course at the Trump World Golf Club Dubai, described as an “unparalleled development” that provides “luxury living on a grand scale.”

That project is to be operated by the Trump Organization, according to the project’s own website, and built by DAMAC Properties. As McClatchy notes, DAMAC Properties awarded a $32 million contract to the Middle East subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, or CSEC, which as you can probably guess, is majority owned by the Chinese government. That contract was awarded right around the time that Trump moved into the Oval Office.

Keep in mind that last January, before he took office, Trump pledged “to transfer management of his businesses and to voluntarily limit those businesses’ ability to engage in transactions that could pose any conflict-of-interest concerns.” He also promised to “relinquish management of his investment and business assets for the duration of his Presidency.”

Perhaps that is why Trump oddly noted in his Friday tweet that he would play golf with Woods and Johnson “quickly,” as if to downplay its significance. As Newsweek observed, Trump claimed the game would be rushed because he was so busy creating jobs for American workers. Well, perhaps one American worker: a disgraced former golf champ.