Playing Golf During a War

Bush's comment about war and golf go viral as Trump seen at Palm Beach club

Newsweek, story by Alice Gibbs 3/16/2026, 

quote:

A statement that former President George W. Bush made about playing golf during wartime has resurfaced online after being reshared on X by an account dedicated to archiving moments from his presidency. . . .

In the post shared on X, @TheBushArchive quoted Bush as saying that he stopped playing golf after the invasion of Iraq because he did not want “some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander‑in‑chief playing golf.”

Bush made the comments in a 2008 interview with Politico, in which he explained that he gave up the pastime following the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed several people, including the UN’s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. 

Bush said he was informed of the attack while he was playing golf in Texas and decided afterward that continuing to play during the war would send the wrong signal. He added that he felt he owed military families a sense of solidarity during the conflict.

Criticism grows around Trump’s golf outings. Beyond optics, the president’s golf trips have also drawn scrutiny over cost. A 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated that each presidential golf trip costs taxpayers approximately $1.4 million, factoring in travel, staffing and security expenses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bush-s-comment-about-war-and-golf-go-viral-as-trump-seen-at-palm-beach-club/ar-AA1YKON9  as of 3/16/2026