It was not an ordinary moment when Donald Trump walked mid-match amid a wave of hands at the Ryder Cup on Friday, September 26, to watch the players in action, playing his favorite sport, golf.
Wearing a navy blue formal suit and a half-flashy smile, the U.S. President was accompanied by his granddaughter, Kai Trump, for the first day of the tournament series.
For the unversed, Mr. Trump has often openly proclaimed his love for this sport and has faced criticism for spending taxpayer money on golfing trips. Coming back to his particular visit this time, things were pretty different, especially in terms of the massive security uproar.
The only possible reason linked to the immense security beef up for Trump has been the shocking assassination of Charlie Kirk just a few days back. Taking major lessons from the unfortunate incident, the President was made to stand behind a gigantic bulletproof glass barrier, so that he could safely witness the game and eliminate any possible fatal attacks on his life.
But, if you think that it was the only security measure beefed up for Trump’s presence on the Ryder Cup day 1 match, you’ll be surprised. Right before the President was about to make his arrival at the stadium, an unexpected power line burst nearby, causing chaos and leaving thousands of spectators stranded. While Donald Trump was initially planning to address everyone, this last-minute mishap made the organizers request that the U.S. President arrive during the late morning hours.
In fact, TSA-style security screenings were implemented inside the golf course for all visitors who came to witness the game. Top of the league inspections were carried out at all vital checkpoints. Additionally, the Ryder Cup organizers shared a new list of prohibited items for spectators entering the golf club. This included the most commonly used rangefinder, a golf device which was previously utilized in a foiled assassination attempt on Donald Trump last year.
While he abided by this request, Trump ended up missing some of the major moments of the match, including the tee-offs at dawn and even the epic face-off happening between Bryson DeChambeau-Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm-Tyrrell Hatton. After landing at the Republic Airport marked by his late arrival, Trump commented that he had checked out the scoreboard and immediately boarded the aircraft in the first place. The U.S. President remarked, “The team is not doing so well,” he informed reporters. “So when I heard that, I said, ‘Let’s go on the plane, we have to try and help them!”
Later on, the USA team captain Keegan Bradley also claimed that he trusted Donald Trump’s arrival would energize the American players of his team. Pointing toward Air Force One as it flew over Bethpage Black, he said, “It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we know the Ryder Cup’s going to be ups and falls, I’ve got a lot of faith in our boys, let’s see how this last match finishes up. We just had the President fly over on Air Force 1, so I’ve got a feeling things are going to turn here.”
