A golf author has mocked President Donald Trump’s latest claim that he’s won 38 golf titles, saying he hasn’t actually won any and likening him to a toddler who thinks pretend wins are real.
On Thursday, longtime golf writer Rick Reilly, 67—author of Commander in Cheat, the 2019 book about Trump’s unethical sporting behavior—laughed at the president’s boast about his supposed trophy haul during a livestreamed Thanksgiving call with service members.
“Ha! Trump adds about 10 every time he brings this up,” Reilly wrote on X.
”Problem is, he hasn’t actually won any. None.”
He added, “You beat Trump, he throws you out of the club. It’s like when you let your toddler beat you in a foot race. He thinks it’s real.”
Reilly was reacting to Trump’s extended riff on the call in which he declared: “I’ve won 38 golf championships and I don’t get to practice very much. I beat a 27-year-old kid… I’ve won 38 of them, every one of them legitimately.”
The exchange came during the same appearance, during which Trump swerved into a defense of his golf record when asked about his handicap and whether he would ever play a round with former President Joe Biden.
“A lot of people talk, but they can’t play, like Biden,” Trump said. “Biden can’t hit a ball 30 yards. I’m telling you, I looked at his swing. He cannot hit a ball 30 yards. He said he was a 6-handicapped. That was the only thing that made me angry during the debate with him.”
Trump did not provide a handicap on the troop call, describing it only as “very low,” and said all his tournament victories were on the level.
Reilly has long accused Trump of cutting corners on the course and padding his “wins,” an argument he laid out in Commander in Cheat and in interviews. He once branded Trump a “f–king golf cheat” while dissecting viral course footage, and alleging Trump even tried to game Tiger Woods.
Reilly’s post—tagged #CommanderInCheat—suggested otherwise, reviving a years-long dispute over how the president keeps score.
For years, Trump has faced claims that he fudges the game—nudging balls from the rough, directing caddies to dump opponents’ shots in bunkers, and gifting himself easy gimmes—according to the Times of London.
He has also declared “victories” at his own clubs in events he either missed or wasn’t observed playing, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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