Donald Trump strode onto the Old Course at St Andrews, dressed in a sharp business suit and a bold striped tie that clashed audaciously with the understated attire of golfers around him.
With the wind tousling his signature blond hair, Trump surveyed the legendary golf links, striking a “You’re fired!” pose for photographers as he declared his admiration for the “Home of Golf.”
At the time of this memorable visit in April 2006, Trump was known primarily as the brash multimillionaire business tycoon and reality TV personality famous for the US version of The Apprentice.
That same year, he bought the land where Trump International Scotland now resides on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.
Trump’s Western Isles roots, Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire golf empire, and long-standing Scottish ties are now well documented.
Fast forward nearly two decades, and Trump is back in the spotlight as he is inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, marking his second term in office.
First Minister John Swinney has vowed to use Trump’s affinity for Scotland to avoid the imposition of tariffs on imports to the US.
But how many other past or present American presidents have played golf in St Andrews?
Donald Trump is not the first or last US president to visit St Andrews
Dwight D. Eisenhower first played the Old Course in 1946 as a U.S. general, clad in his military uniform.
Later, as the 34th president, he visited Turnberry – now owned by Trump – during a weekend stay at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire in 1959, following high-stakes talks in Paris with General de Gaulle.
George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, was another keen golfer who found his way to St Andrews.
He played the Old Course in 1994 and returned for the Open Championship in July 1995.
Accompanied by his wife Barbara, the honorary member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club played a round at Carnoustie and attended the final stages of the championship.
In May 2001, Bush’s successor Bill Clinton also fulfilled a lifelong dream by playing a round on the Old Course.
Armed with a 50-year-old course guide, the former president tackled the challenging links.
He told spectators: “Hopefully, my caddie will keep me out of the bunkers!”
He returned several times, including a visit in 2013 with the Clinton Foundation, when he described the experience as “fantastic and memorable.”
That same year, Bill Clinton’s wife Hillary – a former US secretary of state who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential race – received an honorary degree from St Andrews University.
The day President George W. Bush collided with a police officer at Gleneagles
The 43rd president George W Bush was, like his father, another golf fan.
He reportedly stopped playing golf in 2003 after the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
Even if he’d been tempted to play golf while attending the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005, the odds were stacked against him.
That’s because his visit coincided with the 7/7 terrorist bombing atrocity in London, in which more than 50 people died.
Injured hand at Gleneagles
Bush also injured his hand after famously colliding with a police officer during a bike ride in the Gleneagles Hotel grounds.
Meanwhile, Dan Quayle, who served as vice president under George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, played numerous times in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns.
More recently, Barack Obama teed off on the Old Course during his first visit to Scotland in May 2017.
Joined by philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter, Obama played under unusually warm conditions, joking with spectators that he’d have to return for the “full Scottish experience” of rain and wind.
The former president charmed onlookers, shaking hands, posing for photos, and even buying a drink from a snack van on the course.
But among all the presidents with ties to Scotland’s golf heritage, none have been as deeply invested as Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s love affair with golf
In 2006, the same year he visited St Andrews, Trump purchased the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire with plans to develop a world-class golf resort.
Trump International Golf Links opened in 2012 amid significant controversy, particularly over environmental concerns and his vocal opposition to nearby wind turbine developments.
He reinforced his dedication to the cause in March 2012 when he sent his executive vice president and legal counsel George Sorial to a public meeting in St Andrews.
It was organised by Cameron Community Council to discuss the growing number of wind farm applications across Fife.
Trump’s battles were famously documented in the film You’ve Been Trumped by Angus filmmaker Anthony W.J. Baxter.
It was later reported that Trump had made unsuccessful inquiries about investing in a golf resort at St Andrews.
But his passion for Scottish golf remained undimmed.
In 2014, he bought Turnberry, now called Trump Turnberry, which features two 18-hole courses, the Ailsa Course and the Kintyre Course.
Despite ongoing financial scrutiny and criticism from environmental activists, Trump announced plans in 2020 for a second course at the Aberdeenshire site.
He named it MacLeod in honour of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who hailed from the Isle of Lewis.
During his first presidency (2017–2021), Trump handed control of his businesses to his family but remained a frequent visitor to his Scottish properties.
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