Getty Donald Trump shakes Tiger Woods hand at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in 2013.
Tiger Woods received an invite from President Donald Trump to be honored at the White House causing many fans to wonder whether the golfer is a Democrat or Republican. If the golfer has a political leaning, it is not known to the public as Woods has done his best to avoid talking politics.
What we do know is that Woods has a relationship with Trump that dates back to before his presidency. According to the Daily Beast, Woods has played golf with Trump multiple times since becoming president.
“I’ve known Donald for a number of years,” Woods said in 2018, per Yahoo Sports. “We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together.”
Trump and Woods have collaborated on business ventures in the past. Woods designed the Trump World Golf Club in Dubai through his company TGR Design back in 2014, per Bloomberg.
When asked about his thoughts about Trump’s immigration policies, Woods gave a vague answer about respecting the office of the president without going into any details about his own political beliefs.
“Well, he’s the president of the United States,” Woods noted, per The Daily Beast. “You have to respect the office. No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.”
Trump responded to Woods’ comments with his support for the golfer.
“The Fake News Media worked hard to get Tiger Woods to say something that he didn’t want to say. Tiger wouldn’t play the game – he is very smart. More importantly, he is playing great golf again!” Trump tweeted on August 27, 2018.
While Woods has not made his relationship with Trump a secret, the golfer has also golfed with people on the other side of the aisle.
Tiger Woods Golfed With Barack Obama & Once Called Him Getting Elected President as “Absolutely Incredible”
Tiger Woods speaks with Barack Obama at the 2017 Presidents Cup at Liberty National.
Trump is not the only president that Woods has golfed with. Woods also played golf with Barack Obama, per Golf.com. When Obama was first elected president in 2008, Woods called it an “absolutely incredible” moment to have an African-American in office.
“I think it’s absolutely incredible,” Woods told CNBC, per ESPN. “He represents America. He’s multiracial. I was hoping it would happen in my lifetime. My father was hoping it would happen in his lifetime, but he didn’t get to see it. I’m lucky enough to have seen a person of color in the White House…He would have cried. Absolutely. No doubt about it.”
After playing with both Trump and Obama, Woods noted he enjoyed both experiences.
“I’ve had a bit of an opportunity to play with a couple presidents in a few weeks and enjoyed both days,” Woods explained to Golf Channel.
After Woods broke his major drought at the Masters, Obama sent out a congratulatory tweet citing his “grit and determination.”
“Congratulations, Tiger! To come back and win the Masters after all the highs and lows is a testament to excellence, grit, and determination,” Obama tweeted.
Woods Has Preferred to Be “Apolitical” Throughout His Career
Tiger Woods and Donald Trump cut a ribbon in front of the Tiger Woods Villa prior to the start of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in 2014.
Whatever Woods’ political views, he has done his best to keep them to himself. Orin Starn, a cultural anthropology professor at Duke, noted that Woods has preferred to remain “apolitical” throughout his career.
“People wanted to imagine that Tiger was a social activist, a fighter for racial justice,” Starn told Yahoo Sports. “In fact, he’s never wanted to be an activist. He’s been pretty apolitical throughout his career…He’s dedicated his whole life to the craft of golf. He gives millions of people great pleasure with his brilliance on the golf course. He’s done racial pioneering work by virtue of his excellence on the golf course. I don’t think that he owes us anything more than that.”