Trump's golf tour takes him back to the Presidents Cup

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MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — President Donald Trump returns to the Presidents Cup for the second time as the honorary chairman, making Sunday in the Chicago suburbs his fourth visit to a golf tournament this year.

Trump showed up at the end of the 2017 Presidents Cup at Liberty National during his first term. The American team was practically assured of winning that year, and Trump posed with the U.S. players during the trophy presentation.

This time he was to be on the first tee for the start of the 12 matches at Medinah Country Club and was expected to be there until the last match teed off at 1:02 p.m. local time, giving him time to speak if he chooses.

Unlike regular golf tournaments, the first tee is boisterous with a flag-waving crowd and music. The U.S. team is trailing for only the fourth time in 32 years of the competition.

Before the horseshoe-shaped grandstand was filled, the loudest buzz was Air Force One flying over Medinah, louder than any of the commercial airlines that have been flying over the course every 70 seconds throughout the week during descent to O'Hare International Airport.

“They were nice enough to name me chairman or honorary chairman, so it’s an honor. It’s a very big event, one of the biggest events in golf by far,” Trump told reporters Sunday morning as he left the White House. “You have the Ryder Cup, and you have the Presidents Cup, and this is a big one, and so it’s a great honor. So, I’m going there.”

It's a traditional role offered to leaders of every country where the tournament is played.

The Presidents Cup began in 1994 to include international players from non-European countries who were not eligible for the more famed Ryder Cup. The name of the tournament comes from including the head of state of the host country to be honorary chairman.

Then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was part of the trophy presentation at the last Presidents Cup in 2024 at Royal Montreal.

President Bill Clinton was in office in 2000 when he attended for one round at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The first time Trump attended in 2017, the start of the week was the biggest display of presidents when Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama sat together on the first tee for the opening round.

Trump this year was at the Cadillac Championship at his Trump National Doral near Miami in early May. He also attended the LIV Golf event at his Trump National Bedminster course in New Jersey in August.

Earlier this month he attended the Irish Open over the weekend at his course in Doonbeg, Ireland.

“You’ll be seeing the best players, the best golfers anywhere in the world. It’s going to be great," Trump said when he landed at O'Hare. “I think for those of you that don’t play — you’ll get it. It’s tremendous power, touch, everything else.”

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