President Trump spent the weekend at his golf club in Virginia, golfing. The presidency is a stressful job, and it's probably healthy for presidents to get out in the sun, but on Sunday morning, Trump defended his frequent golf outings. While many politicians and business leaders "work out endlessly," he tweeted, "my 'exercise' is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf. Obama played more and much longer rounds, no problem."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) backed Trump's claim of being a fast golfer, calling it "a tremendous understatement."
But Trump is objectively wrong about his predecessor, Barack Obama, playing more golf. Trump has visited his golf properties 277 times as president, by CNN's count, and 262 times according to the Trump Golf Count website; Obama played golf 306 times over his eight years in office and fewer than half as many rounds as Trump at this point in his presidency — and Trump frequently criticized him for it. On the other hand, Trump was right about news organizations trying to get pictures of him golfing, paparazzi-like — when you're star, you let them do it — and their cameras called into question his idea of "exercise."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So Trump drives a golf cart and has a caddy, but to be fair, he did put "exercise" in quotation marks and said he only did a "tiny" bit.
-
How is Chili's saving casual dining? Could others follow?Today's Big Question Value and TikTok virality bring in the diners
-
NASA is abandoning the climateThe Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Every MCU movie since 'Avengers: Endgame,' rankedThe Week Recommends How did the recent 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' stack up?
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
