MEDINAH, Ill. — President Donald Trump, maybe a minute into talking with Jim Furyk and PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, three times mimicked a golf swing before extending his arms out to his sides, appearing to ask a question. About 300 yards away, Sam Burns and Sungjae Im played Medinah Country Club’s first hole. In the background, Lil Jon’s “Turned Down for What” played.
Should you want to know what went down during Trump’s visit here on Sunday for the Presidents Cup’s final day, that scene set the scene.
Golf talk. There was maybe about two hours of that. And a minute of fan talk.
Pro golf. There was that, too.
Thumping bass. Yes, there was plenty of that. And eventually a dance.
From 10:58 a.m. local time to 1:16 p.m., here were Trump’s movements, chronicled diary style.
9:20 a.m. CT
Air Force One flew over Medinah. You heard it if you were nearby. You saw it. A fan to the right of the 1st tee build-out told a friend to look up at the exhaust cloud.
Over his social media late last month, Trump had said he’d accepted an invitation to attend the event that has his current role in its name, joining other presidents who have done so, but official word that it would be Sunday didn’t come until Saturday night, when the PGA Tour emailed reporters with a subject line of “IMPORTANT: Enhanced Security Measures of Sunday.” And security measures there were. To reach the 1st tee, fans and everyone else went through a metal detector; a member of the Secret Service even looked at a reporter’s notebook that said that members of the Secret Service were, in fact, present.
At the 1st tee, the 5,000-seat arena was mostly full by 9:45. Word came that everyone needed to stay in place starting at 10. Trump and his party had a glass-enclosed seating area behind and just to the left of the tee box.
Atop the video screen to the left of the tee box was a member of the Secret Service watching everything.
Getty Images
10:30 a.m. CT
Rolapp, the PGA Tour CEO, walked out to the 1st tee from an entrance to the left of the presidential seating area, followed by Trump. A microphone was set up just behind the tee box, and Rolapp talked first, thanking and introducing Trump.
For just over a minute, the president spoke. There’d been a report that he had asked to talk for 15 minutes. There was reference to that, along with the media.
“You know the fake news media will say I got a very bad reception,” he started. “But we got a good reception. We love what we’re doing. Our country is doing great.
“Now Brian said, ‘Could you make a short speech?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t have the courage to make a speech. These people want to see golf. They don’t want to hear speeches.’
“I’ll only say this. Our country is doing great, better than ever before. I want to watch the greatest players in the world go out and play, and play your hearts out. It’s going to be an interesting day of golf. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. I love you. I love you, guys. Thank you.”
10:58 a.m.
Ryo Hisatsune of Team International walked out of the same entrance that Trump and Rolapp did, followed by Cameron Young of Team USA. They were the first singles pairing. In pre-tournament press conferences, players had been asked about Trump’s potential appearance. Wyndham Clark called it amazing; he said that a call that he got from Trump after winning this year’s U.S. Open was “one of the coolest calls of my life.” Chris Gotterup called it cool. Patrick Cantlay called it great.
The Internationals’ Corey Conners of Canada also had this exchange; the reporter’s question is in italics:
What was your reaction when you heard that President Trump announced he was going to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America?
“Honestly, I haven’t read too much into that,” Conners said. “Yeah, I don’t really have an opinion one way or another.”
From the first pairing to the last (Ryan Fox of the Internationals and American Xander Schauffele), Trump and Rolapp stood outside; most of the time, they stood just in front of Trump’s seating area, and they were directly in the sun. Occasionally, they sought shade. After a short while, Trump started to wear a white hat with “USA” embroidered on it. Trump also shook hands with all 24 players. American greetings were made with a few words. International greetings occasionally went a bit like the one with Adam Scott, which you can view by clicking here.
11:54 a.m.
Trump talked with Furyk.
At various other points, the president also talked with U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker, International captain Geoff Ogilvy, both sides’ vice captains, caddies and player wives who were brought over — one group took a picture. Trump also listened to speeches from special guests and former players Hal Sutton and Lee Trevino. Trevino said: “However it turns out, golf has won.”
Almost all of Trump’s words were said to Rolapp, though. For nearly the two hours they were out, they talked. Trump, you may have seen, plays golf and is a golf course owner. One of his places, Trump International Doral, hosted a PGA Tour event this year.
But there were fan moments, though. Seconds before American Chris Gotterup teed off, one yelled, “Love you, Donny,” which drew a smile. Seconds before American Jackson Koivun started, another fan shouted, “We love you, Trump,” and he waved. Three times, he signed items for fans, and a member of his security team returned them.
Outside Medinah, various outlets also reported protests of Trump’s visit.
12:53 p.m.
Trump briefly danced. The music had been constant. By this point, the stands were less than half full.
1:16 p.m.
Trump went inside. The last group had started at 1:14.
1:26 p.m.
Trump exited the 1st tee stands. A black Cadillac was waiting for him.
At the metal detectors I walked past four hours earlier, I saw one of the bomb-sniffing dogs already in its kennel.
And 5-ish
The U.S. president was on the 14th green, after the U.S. won the Presidents Cup. , at the trophy ceremony, he shook the hand of every U.S. player and captain.
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