Fact Check: Is video of Donald Trump picking up golf ball after missing on swing real?

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has always been expressive about his love for golf, and over the years, has brought many golf courses in the United States, and also in some European countries.

Despite being 79, the POTUS has shown his skill on the golf course and at times, he has given a run for their money to some skilled golfers, including his granddaughter Kai, who is an avid golfer. 

Recently, a video circulating online claimed that Trump swung a golf club, missed the ball, and then picked up the ball off the tee. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Donald Trump picked up golf ball after missing on a swing

A viral video from mid-June 2025 shows President Trump swinging a golf club to hit a ball on a tee, missing the ball completely, and then picking up the ball and moving along.

It was widely circulated across X, Threads, and TikTok.

An X user shared the clip and wrote, "Watch closely, Trump completely misses the ball and then tries to grab it off the ground before anyone notices. Trump spends all that time on the golf course and is still one of the worst golfers in the country, it’s absolutely hilarious."

Meanwhile, a user on Threads shared the same clip and wrote, "Trump swings and misses. He spends all that time on the golf course and is still bad at golfing."

Similarly, another Threads user wrote, "I was trying to stick to Canadian news today and some good vibes, but this is too funny not to share. Taco In Chief swings and misses. He’s definitely really bad at golfing."

Fact Check: The viral video of Donald Trump picking up golf ball is fake

The video showing the POTUS missing the golf drive with his club and then picking the ball up off the tee was fake, Snopes reported.

The clip had a watermark for the X user @Tarquin_Helmet, who mentioned in many replies that he edited the clip with video-editing software, the fact-checking outlet reported.

Moreover, the user's X bio identifies themselves as an "English graphic satirist."

Furthermore, the end of the altered video showed Trump's hand partially disappearing when supposedly picking up the ball off the tee, making it clear that it is not a real video.

The original video of Trump golfing was published by news station WUSA, which did not show Trump swinging and missing the ball, on May 25, 2023.

The original video shows Trump taking practice swings, successfully hitting the ball off the tee, and then gathering the tee.

Meanwhile, X user @Tarquin_Helmet informed Snopes, "It was originally posted on 25th May 2023 and has zero AI content. It was made using After Effects."

Donald Trump's golf weekends cost $18.2M worth taxpayers' money

A report by HuffPost in March 2025 claimed, after citing costs from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, that the POTUS' weekend golf sessions in Florida now cost American taxpayers more than $18 million.

Interestingly, during his first term in office, Trump's 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.

The POTUS 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.

Meanwhile, when Trump travels from Mar-a-Lago to the golf club, it involves crossing back onto the mainland from the barrier island, and police boats with machine guns mounted on the bows patrol the waterway, the outlet reported.

Furthermore, a Coast Guard vessel remains stationed off the beach in the Atlantic.

Similarly, other expenses include local law enforcement and explosive-sniffing dogs, the report mentions.