Donald Trump plays a round of golf after the opening of The Trump International Golf Links Course on July 10, 2012 in Balmedie, Scotland.
Ian MacNicol | Getty Images
President Donald Trump made an unannounced phone call into NBC Sports’ live broadcast of a golf tournament raising funds for coronavirus relief efforts.
“It’s a wonderful thing to see,” Trump told NBC’s Mike Tirico when asked how he felt watching pro golfers return to the links after the PGA Tour cancelled or postponed its events through May amid the pandemic.
The TaylorMade Driving Relief tournament marks one of the first live professional sports events in over two months, though without any spectators present on the course.
“I’m getting a little tired of watching 10-year-old golf tournaments [on television] where you know who won,” Trump said.
Trump called the sports channel after returning to the White House from Camp David. “I do miss it. I haven’t played, really, since this problem that we have started, I haven’t been able to play golf for a while, I’ve been very busy,” Trump said.
The president stayed on the line for about 10 minutes.
Before the coronavirus grounded much of his travel, Trump frequently spent weekends at his golf resorts in Palm Beach, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey. The Washington Post reported in late 2018 that Trump averaged about one round of golf every five days since the start of his term in office.
As of Sunday, Trump had not visited one of his personal properties in 70 days, according to an NBC News analysis.
Trump talked about his relationships with pro golfers, four of whom were competing in the charity match. The event, supported by UnitedHealth Group, will net $3 million for the American Nurses Foundation and CDC Foundation, according to the PGA.
“We need sports in terms of the psyche, the psyche of our country,” Trump said. “I think some tremendous things are going to be coming out very soon.”
“The country is ready to start moving forward,” Trump said.
