(The Hill) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday opened his new golf course in Aberdeen, playing a round of golf before returning to Washington, D.C., after his swing in Scotland.
“We’ll play it very quickly and then I go back to D.C. and we put out fires all over the world,” Trump said at the opening ceremony.
“We did one yesterday, as you know, we stopped the war,” he continued, referring to Thailand and Cambodia agreeing to a ceasefire to end five days of fighting. “That’s much more important than playing golf. As much as I like it, it’s much more important.”
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The president, surrounded by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., cut a long, red ribbon to mark the official opening. The president’s signature song, “YMCA,” played at the course, and then the family exited the tee area before he hit a drive.
After he hit a drive, Eric Trump did the same, followed by Irish professional golfer Paul McGinley and American professional golfer Rich Beem. The president watched and then walked along to continue his round of golf.
Before exiting to go play, Trump responded to a shouted question on what he would say to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the war in Gaza. He responded that he’s “trying to get things straightened out.”
The president called the Aberdeen course “an unbelievable development” during his remarks.
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“I guess we’re going to be hitting a couple of balls. And we’re going to play the round,” he added. “I’ll be playing quickly, and then I’ll be heading back. I look forward to that, but I really look forward to playing.”
Trump also thanked the media for being “terrific” during the trip and said they’re “wonderful news” and not “fake news” as of Tuesday.
The president’s sons spoke before the president, and Eric Trump said the course started as a “passion project for my father.”
The new 18-hole course is outside of Aberdeen and will be named after Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born in Scotland. Trump owns two other golf courses in Scotland — a separate one in Aberdeen that opened in 2012 and one at Turnberry that opened in 2014.
