Fact Check: Did Trump turn White House lawn into a golf course?

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump's love for golf is no hidden secret. During the initial days of his second term as the POTUS, Trump faced flak as HuffPost claimed, citing costs from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, that the president’s weekend golf sessions in Florida cost American taxpayers more than $18 million.

Recently, a rumor circulated online claiming that Trump turned the lawn of the White House into a golf course in or around early June 2025. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Trump turned White House lawn into golf course

In June 2025, a rumor circulated online claiming that President Trump had turned the lawn of the White House into a golf course.

The rumor circulated across social media platforms such as X, Facebook, and TikTok.

An X user posted a video and captioned it, "Trump is turning the White House into a mini golf course. This is so dope."

Meanwhile, others suggested Trump was turning it into a "mini golf" course, as many complained that the project was a gross misuse of public money, according to Snopes.

An X user wrote, "It appears that Trump is converting the Whitehouse lawn into a Golf Course on the taxpayers dime!"

Similarly, a Facebook user wrote, "Yo—this is wild! Trump’s turning the White House into a mini golf course—dopest idea yet!"

False: The putting green lawn has been there for decades

The claims made in the online rumor are false, as the "golf course" in the White House is a putting green that has been there for decades, Snopes reported.

President Trump met with pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau at the White House on June 1, and the pro did pitch up to play a game of golf, per the outlet.

Interestingly, former President Dwight D Eisenhower installed a putting green on the South Lawn of the White House in 1954, where it still stands today, but it was removed for about 20 years, the fact-checking outlet reported.

Former President Bill Clinton had the green restored in 1995, a restoration that "cost the US taxpayer nothing. All of the machinery, materials, and manpower were donated," the Irish Times reported.

Moreover, in February 2021, a feature about the green on Golf.com said, "The current iteration was put in place by Robert Trent Jones Jr. at the behest of Bill Clinton. The idea for a green itself took root when devoted hacker Dwight Eisenhower lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

It added, "His green — created, along with two par 3s at Camp David, by RTJ Sr — was removed by Richard Nixon for unknown reasons. When Clinton asked Jones Jr to restore the green, they chose the spot of Ike's original dance floor."

Report claims Trump's 13 rounds of golfing costs taxpayers $18.2 million

In March 2025, HuffPost claimed after citing costs from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, that Trump's weekend golf sessions in Florida cost American taxpayers more than $18 million.

During Trump's first term in office, his trips were put at $151.5 million over four years as the first four trips cost $3,383,250 each in 2017, per the outlet.

Moreover, the president and his entourage travel via Air Force One while the military transports his motorcade vehicles using C-17 planes, which costs a huge amount of money.