Nine years ago, U.S. President Donald Trump stood on the 18th green at Liberty National and handed out trophies as the U.S. Team celebrated a Presidents Cup win at home, an event where he also served as Honorary Chairman. Now, in 2026, he is back for the event, this time as the sitting president and Honorary Chairman at Medinah Country Club. It is the second time he has held the role.
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The PGA Tour named Trump as its 2026 Honorary Chairman on August 30, 2026, confirming the news in a statement from Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. “We are grateful to President Trump for accepting our invitation to serve as Honorary Chairman for the 2026 Presidents Cup,” Rolapp said. “The Presidents Cup has a proud tradition of engaging world leaders from across the globe and across political lines, and President Trump’s involvement continues that legacy. His participation will help elevate the event on the international stage while furthering our mission of bringing people together through the game of golf.”
Trump shared his reaction on Truth Social after accepting the role. He said he was honored to serve as Honorary Chairman at the request of the PGA Tour and its new commissioner, Brian Rolapp. Trump also called the upcoming Presidents Cup an exciting event, saying both teams are full of talented players. He added that he looks forward to attending the event at Medinah and meeting athletes from both teams.
The Honorary Chairman role has been an important part of Presidents Cup history. Donald Trump now joins six former U.S. presidents who have held the position, along with leaders from Canada, Australia, South Korea and South Africa. Barack Obama held the role twice, in 2009 and 2013, while George W. Bush served in 2005. Gerald Ford was the first U.S. president to hold the position in 1994.
Medinah’s Course No. 3, host to five major championships, will now host the Presidents Cup.
Brandt Snedeker will lead the U.S. Team as captain for the first time as the event returns to the United States. Geoff Ogilvy will captain the International Team, seeking its first win since 1998 in Melbourne.
By September, when the teams tee off at Medinah, Trump won’t be a new face at the trophy ceremony.
The ticket demand shows how big this event is expected to be. General admission tickets went on sale on September 9, 2025. Presidents Cup executive director Joie Chitwood said at the time that fans would get to watch 24 of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars compete for their countries, while also experiencing the culture and spirit of Chicago.
Resale tickets are going for about $106, and single-day passes for the weekend rounds have already climbed past $150. That’s a lot of money changing hands for an event that pays its players nothing. Every dollar the Presidents Cup raises goes to charities the players choose themselves, the same setup it’s had since the first tournament in 1994.
Trump’s presence does something ordinary matches can’t: it turns the Presidents Cup into a geopolitical event, not just a golf tournament. He’s the latest in a line that already includes Ford, Clinton, Bush and Obama, though holding the title hasn’t always meant showing up. Clinton did, playing a round in 2000, but Obama skipped his own Presidents Cup in 2009, and Bush’s 2005 turn amounted to little more than a White House photo op. Matches get underway September 24 at Medinah, with Snedeker and Ogilvy running the two teams and Trump back in the same ceremonial role he held at Liberty National. Golf aside, that’s the real hook here: a former president in the room gets the Tour more attention than any ad buy could, and the Presidents Cup still won’t pay its players a dime for it.