Trump names himself 'champion' of golf tournament he didn't play in

Trump’s own golf club awarded him a phony “championship” for a tournament he never even participated in.

The Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, has a plaque over Trump’s locker recognizing him as the “2018 Men’s Club Champion.” But Golf.com reports that Trump hasn’t even posted a score at the club since 2016, before he was sworn in to the presidency.

The real champion at the club is a member named Ted Virtue, the CEO of a New York investment firm. Trump reportedly ran into Virtue and told him, “The only reason you won is because I couldn’t play.” Trump then played him in a nine-hole challenge match, and when Trump won, Golf.com reports, he said something to Virtue akin to “This isn’t fair — we’ll be co-champions.”

But the plaque on Trump’s door doesn’t say he’s a “co-champion” — it suggest he is the sole champion and makes it seem like he participated in the tournaments just like other players did. He didn’t. He just himself declared the winner anyway, which is the quintessential Trump style.

There are striking similarities to the way Trump and his underlings regularly describe the outcome of the 2016 election as a sweeping pro-Trump mandate. when in fact nearly 3 million more votes were cast for Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote.

The golf club is Trump’s obsession, despite his statement in 2016 saying, “I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf.”

He has visited the West Palm Beach course 53 times since assuming the presidency, and gone to his various clubs 173 times.

Because he refused to follow presidential tradition and divest from these holdings, every time he visits he is using the presidency to advertise a business that generates a personal profit for him.

Trump often complained about President Barack Obama’s golfing trips, but Trump has golfed every 4.2 days of his presidency, double the frequency that Obama did.

And Trump hasn’t won any championships in all that time, even though he awarded himself a participation trophy that says he did.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.