England World Cup captain Harry Kane has confirmed that he played golf with former US President Donald Trump, describing the experience as 'surreal' and praising Trump's golf game. The revelation, made ahead of England's World Cup quarter-final against Norway, has sparked swift backlash on social media.
Kane confirms round in Florida
Trump surprised reporters on July 6 by mentioning that he had previously played golf with Kane, calling the England striker a 'great player' and a 'good golfer.' When asked by a reporter about Trump's comments and how he played, Kane confirmed the round took place in Palm Beach, Florida, about 18 months earlier.
'I played all right, to be honest,' Kane said. 'Yeah, we played about 18 months ago. He invited me to play when I was down in Palm Beach, so yeah, when the president invites you somewhere … it was a pretty surreal experience just to meet him and obviously play golf with him.'
Timing of the golf round
Kane's club side, Germany's Bayern Munich, was on a winter break from late December 2024 to early January 2025, suggesting that the round took place before the start of Trump's second presidency. Kane, who once told German site golfpunk.de that he plays to a 3 handicap, praised the 80-year-old Trump's golf game.
'His golf's pretty good, to be honest with you,' the England striker said. 'I hope I can play golf as good as him when I'm his age, that's for sure. So yeah, unique experience but yeah, I was just grateful he invited me down to play.'
Trump's compliments and social media reaction
Trump had complimented Kane on social media following England's 3-2 round-of-16 victory over Mexico on July 5, writing: 'Harry Kane of England is a GREAT player!!!' The following day, Trump revealed the pair had golfed together. 'I think Kane is a great player,' Trump said. 'I played golf with him and I like him a lot. He's a good golfer. He's really great.'
Kane's confirmation sparked immediate backlash on social media from critics of the president. Writer Musa Okwonga commented: 'Bleak, bleak. You don't just pal around with someone like that.' Jules Boykoff, a political scientist and author of 'Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the Fifa Greed Machine,' joked that Kane might have been tempting fate by associating with the president, who attended the only game of the NBA finals that the New York Knicks lost before they went on to win the league championship in June for the first time since 1973. 'Harry Kane just begging for the Trump Curse to come a-knocking,' Boykoff wrote.
Comparisons to other players
Other US football fans suggested that rival strikers, including Kylian Mbappé, who has publicly criticized the French far right, and Norway's Erling Haaland, would have spurned the invitation to play with Trump. Murshed Zaheed, a former aide to the late Democratic senator Harry Reid, wrote: 'Guess Harry Kane has no issues with being a dumb sports washing tool for authoritarianism. Screw this guy. He certainly is no Mbappe. Hope Norway wins.'
England, seeking to end 60 years of hurt since its first and only World Cup win in 1966, faces Norway in the quarter-final on Saturday.
