Donald Trump has offered a rather unusual explanation for why he doesn’t cheat more often at golf: There are too many Secret Service agents watching him.
Speaking to business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Dublin on Saturday, Trump joked about playing golf with hundreds of Secret Service agents surrounding the course—and then delivered a remarkably candid answer about whether he cheats.
“I was with the head of the biggest company in the world and we’re playing golf and we had, you know, like all these things going around and we had hundreds of Secret Service all over the course,” Trump said.
“In fact, they said, ‘Does Trump cheat?’ I can’t cheat,” Trump continued. “You have 250 Secret Service agents running down.”
“It’s not that I wouldn’t cheat,” the 80-year-old president said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Trump then explained that the Secret Service agents know he is not supposed to move his ball around the course.
The joke was delivered just hours before Trump headed to the Irish Open at his own golf resort in Doonbeg, where he was scheduled to watch the tournament.
Trump has long faced accusations that he bends—or outright breaks—the rules on the golf course. Sportswriter Rick Reilly devoted an entire 2019 book, *Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump*, to allegations about Trump’s golf habits.
Reilly wrote that Trump allegedly moves his ball, kicks it back into play and otherwise manipulates his game. At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, Reilly reported that caddies had given him the nickname “Pele” because they allegedly saw him kick his ball back onto the fairway.
Those are allegations Trump has repeatedly denied.
There have also been comments from some of Trump’s allies suggesting that his golf game doesn’t always follow the strictest interpretation of the rules.
According to testimony transcripts obtained by The New York Times, then-South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly told a Georgia grand jury in 2022: “Some people say you may outdrive him, but you’re not going to outdrive his caddy.”
Trump, however, has insisted that he does not cheat.
In 2016, after former boxer Oscar De La Hoya accused him of cheating during a round, Trump denied even having played golf with him.
“Not only didn’t I cheat, I didn’t play with him,” Trump said at the time. “I have never played a round of golf with this guy.”
“He’s absolutely lying,” Trump added.
So Trump’s position has been pretty straightforward over the years: He doesn’t cheat.
But on Saturday, he offered a slightly different formulation.
It’s not that he wouldn’t cheat. It’s that with 250 Secret Service agents running around the course makes it a little harder to pull off.
Watch the clip below:
Trump: “We had hundreds of Secret Service all over the course. They said, 'Does Trump cheat?' I can't cheat. You have 250 Secret Service agents running down.
It's not that I wouldn't cheat, but you can't move the ball." pic.twitter.com/tBqZmVQjqP
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 12, 2026
