President Donald Trump isn’t likely to gain admission to an exclusive section of Augusta National anytime soon
09:55, 06 Apr 2026Updated 09:58, 06 Apr 2026
US President Donald Trump has been told by a long-time acquaintance why he won’t be getting his Masters membership(Image: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Being president of the United States comes with a multitude of perks and membership to many guarded sections of the country. However, the members’ lounge at the Masters seemingly isn’t one of them.
It’s something of a badly kept secret that President Donald Trump has sought for years to gain a membership at Augusta National. Limited to around just 300 members at any one time, the Georgia resort is among the most exclusive locations in all of golf.
But despite becoming the ‘Leader of the Free World’ (twice), Trump doesn’t have the qualities required to fit in at Augusta. That’s according to coaching legend Butch Harmon, who, on the verge of the 2026 Masters teeing off on Thursday, explained why Trump is kept at arm’s length.
Harmon was quizzed over why Trump isn’t (and quite possibly never will be) a member at Augusta National and responded: “I think you can answer that yourself. Because he’s Trump.
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“I think he is who he is. He’s full of himself. He’s the type of person that I don’t think fits the profile of an Augusta member. I’ve known him most of my whole life, because his father was a member of Winged Foot.
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“I’ve known Donald pretty much my whole life. What you see is what you get with him. And I don’t think his personality fits the membership at Augusta.
“I don’t think that [being president] has anything to do with it, because there’s been a lot of other presidents who played golf, and they’re not members. [Bill] Clinton, [Barack] Obama… they played golf. I think it’s just his personality doesn’t mix with that particular club. That’s as politically correct as I can be.”
According to Butch Harmon, President Trump lacks the candour required to fit in at Augusta(Image: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Harmon’s late father, Claude, was the head pro at Winged Foot for more than 30 years (from 1945 to 1978). Trump, 79, has been a member at the New York course for more than 50 years, but Augusta is in a different bracket altogether.
As Harmon hinted, it’s not about the presidency, either. Dwight D. Eisenhower was among the club’s most famous members, with a cabin named after the 34th president of the United States even constructed on-site.
Following last year’s war between the US and Europe, tensions between the two continental colossi are perhaps still high. Team Europe won the Ryder Cup in New York as Masters titleholder Rory McIlroy waded through a sea of boos and jeers to lift the title.
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The scenes were in places attributed to being typical of Trump’s America as constant chants of ‘USA’ ran across Bethpage. Further to that, it was also one of the more aggressive Ryder Cups on record as rival players and caddies quarrelled and bickered in front of spectators.
The actions of the home crowd were dubbed unbecoming of the sport by many, Harmon included. And the 82-year-old detailed his embarrassment over the ordeal, even going so far as to take himself off Sky’s broadcasting out of shame.
“I thought the Ryder Cup was disgusting,” he continued. “It was embarrassing being an American. I love the Ryder Cup, it’s my favourite one to broadcast and being from New York, I had planned to work with the Sky team, but I decided to pull out for that main reason.”