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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Reilly pokes more holes in Trump's claims than there are sand traps on all of his courses combined. It is by turns amusing and alarming." -- The New Yorker "Golf is the spine of this shocking, wildly humorous book, but humanity is its flesh and spirit." -- Chicago Sun-Times "Every one of Trump's most disgusting qualities surfaces in golf." -- The Ringer An outrageous indictment of Donald Trump's appalling behavior when it comes to golf -- on and off the green -- and what it reveals about his character. Donald Trump loves golf. He loves to play it, buy it, build it, and operate it. He owns 14 courses around the world and runs another five, all of which he insists are the best on the planet. He also claims he's a 3 handicap, almost never loses, and has won an astonishing 18 club championships. How much of all that is true? Almost none of it, acclaimed sportswriter Rick Reilly reveals in this unsparing look at Trump in the world of golf. Based on Reilly's own experiences with Trump as well as interviews with over 100 golf pros, amateurs, developers, and caddies, Commander in Cheat is a startling and at times hilarious indictment of Trump and his golf game. You'll learn how Trump cheats (sometimes with the help of his caddies and Secret Service agents), lies about his scores (the "Trump Bump"), tells whoppers about the rank of his courses and their worth (declaring that every one of them is worth $50 million), and tramples the etiquette of the game (driving on greens doesn't help). Trump doesn't brag so much, though, about the golf contractors he stiffs, the course neighbors he intimidates, or the way his golf decisions wind up infecting his political ones. For Trump, it's always about winning. To do it, he uses the tricks he picked up from the hustlers at the public course where he learned the game as a college kid, and then polished as one of the most bombastic businessmen of our time. As Reilly writes, "Golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man." Commander in Cheat "paints a side-splitting portrait of a congenital cheater" (Esquire), revealing all kinds of unsightly truths Trump has been hiding.… (more)
User reviews
Reilly digs deep into the persona of Donald Trump, revealing his true character (or lack thereof). Trump's passion is golf. I think everyone knows that. But what kind of person would diminish his life's passion by constantly
The man is completely incapable of telling the truth. He lies about his score. He kicks the golf balls into a better space (or has his lackey do it for him). He lies about the championships he's won. He lies about everything.
You might think that the author is another member of the "fake news" group that Trump rails on, however he documents incident after incident, as told by upstanding members of society who have golfed with him. It's a running gag among golfers everywhere how bad Trump cheats and lies.
And if you can't believe anything he says about his passion, how can you think he is going to tell the truth about anything else? You would have to be completely gullible.
Someday, just like our parents warned us, the lies will catch up to you. And the day of reckoning will be painful. Evidently Trump's parents didn't impress that upon him. How he has made it this far is amazing (and frustrating). When that day comes, I just hope that he doesn't take us all down with him!
As the author says, "If you'll cheat to win at golf, is it that much further to cheat to win an election? To turn a Congressional vote? To stop an investigation?
"If you'll lie about every aspect of the game, is it that much further to lie about your taxes, your relationship with Russians, your groping of women?
"If you're adamant that that the poor don't deserve golf, is it that much further to think they don't deserve health care, clean air, safe schools?"
Frightening thoughts indeed, but we need to really think about them. Loved this book for those reasons.