Donald Trump Quits Golfing at His Own Courses, Calls It ‘Quite a Dangerous Sport’

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of gun violence that some readers may find distressing.

Ardent golf lover Donald Trump has accepted his new reality that it may be prudent to steer clear of his own courses for the time being. His decision comes in the wake of two attempts at his life within a span of two months. The former President reportedly informed advisers that he would not be golfing despite it being his primary means of unwinding.

As per The New York Times, West Palm Beach, Florida's Trump International Golf Club was the site of the most recent assassination attempt. On September 15, Ryan W. Routh, 58, lurked in the shrubbery in the course, waiting for a clear shot at the GOP nominee. He carried an AKM-style semiautomatic weapon, according to the police. While assessing the environment, a Secret Service official opened fire at Routh after spotting his gun barrel in the bushes.

Routh fled the scene in his vehicle and evaded capture for 45 minutes before being apprehended. Although federal prosecutors want to pursue an attempted assassination case, he is already facing two accusations related to firearms. In light of the same, the former president made a lighthearted reference to the accident last week, during an appearance with the Sinclair Broadcast Group program, Full Measure. Trump said, "I used to play golf a little bit, but that seems to be quite a dangerous sport in retrospect."

There has been a lot of concern about Trump's golf trips for years. As reported by Politico, Former Secret Service agent, Paul Eckloff, who served as Trump's assistant detail commander when he was president, stated, "Outdoor events of that size and duration, three-to-five hours, are incredibly difficult and stressful. You can’t surround a person who’s golfing with steel or glass."

Although playing golf is a common practice for American presidents in the contemporary era, Trump's affinity for the sport makes his appearances on the course more predictable, and thus more dangerous. Mike Olson another veteran of the Secret Service, claimed, "The problem is, over the last eight years specifically with Trump is that he golfs a lot. He golfs all the time, so it doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to figure out that if he’s down at Mar-a-Lago, and it’s nice weather, he’s probably going to a golf course."

Trump being Trump, is known to bash others while expressing an enduring love for his courses. "Look, I'm an artist," he said on one occasion when speaking to Golf Digest about the design of his courses. He continued, "See, I'm an artist...Golf is very much about beauty." Trump has made no secret of his passion for golf—as a player and a course owner—and his belief that only the most privileged, should be able to play. In response to a direct question about whether he considered golf to be an 'elitist activity,' Trump said, "It was always meant to be, and people get there through success."

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