Donald Trump’s flashy appearance at the Ryder Cup was about power, ego and showmanship – while the tournament represented a battle against Europe that ‘Trump’s America has to win’, an expert says
Donald Trump turned the Ryder Cup into a stage to bolster his ego and project political power – with the event seen less as a friendly golf tournament and more like a “battle against Europe that Trump’s America has to win”, an expert claimed.
The US President jetted in on Air Force One, touched down at a nearby airport, and rolled onto the Bethpage Black course in New York, with his granddaughter Kai in tow. Supporters roared his name and chanted “USA, USA” as he waved from the fairway, while others booed. Political expert Anthony Glees told the Mirror the whole thing looked less like a sporting event and more like a campaign rally.
“What this Ryder Cup appearance says to me is that the golden man Trump is now doing what he did to the General Assembly yesterday to the heartlands of America through his favourite sport, golf, today. And it is extraordinary. It is the Trump-isation of American life and American politics and society,” he said.
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Glees, an author and professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham, believes Trump is deliberately using sport to fuel his cult of personality – and suggested it was a strategic move to distract Americans from the real problems piling up at home. He described the Ryder Cup moment as “the politicisation of sport to match the Trump-isation of American life in general.”
“There’s no going back now from where America is headed,” he said. “And it is Trump’s magnificence. He is like the king of the world in his own eyes.” For Trump, the stakes appeared to be far bigger than a trophy. With Europe 3-1 up on the USA following the foursomes, Glees said the former president was desperate for a US victory on home turf.
“It is of supreme importance for Trump that America wins on American soil to make America great again, through the game which he feels is a projection of his own personality,” the expert said. Glees added that the event was a clear ego boost for Trump, who sees himself “at the height of his powers” and “the king of the world in his own eyes.”
But the atmosphere on the course struck the expert as unnerving. “The charm of the MAGA crowd. That is the Trump charm. And hearing it – during the gentleman’s game, a gentle person’s game of golf – I thought was rather frightening, intimidating. And this was more than a friendly golf tournament. This was a battle against Europe that Trump’s America has to win”, he said.