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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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A statement that former President George W. Bush made about playing golf during wartime has resurfaced online after being reshared on X by an account dedicated to archiving moments from his presidency.
The post was shared on March 15 by @TheBushArchive, an account that is not affiliated with George W. Bush but regularly reposts historical media and statements related to the 43rd president of the United States.
The renewed attention comes as President Donald Trump faces criticism over his own golfing habits while the U.S. remains engaged in the ongoing conflict with Iran.
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Why It Matters
The resurfaced statement has gained traction amid broader debate over presidential conduct during wartime, particularly the optics of leisure activities such as golf while U.S. service members are deployed overseas.
Recent images circulating on social media showed Trump finishing a round of golf earlier this month while wearing a white cap, which some users compared to photographs taken on March 7, when the president attended the transfer of six dead U.S. Army soldiers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
This weekend, Trump was seen leaving the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, as he spent this weekend at Mar-a-Lago. His golfing trips have also drawn attention from other political figures, including Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom who said on X earlier this month: "A 7th American soldier is now dead. But don’t worry, Donald Trump is golfing."
What To Know
In the post shared on X, @TheBushArchive quoted Bush as saying that he stopped playing golf after the invasion of Iraq because he did not want "some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander‑in‑chief playing golf."
Bush made the comments in a 2008 interview with Politico, in which he explained that he gave up the pastime following the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed several people, including the UN’s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Bush said he was informed of the attack while he was playing golf in Texas and decided afterward that continuing to play during the war would send the wrong signal. He added that he felt he owed military families a sense of solidarity during the conflict.
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Criticism grows around Trump’s golf outings. Beyond optics, the president’s golf trips have also drawn scrutiny over cost. A 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated that each presidential golf trip costs taxpayers approximately $1.4 million, factoring in travel, staffing and security expenses.
Trump has previously defended his time on the golf course. During his first term, he said he primarily played on weekends and described it as a form of exercise.
Data compiled by the website DidTrumpGolfToday.com, which tracks the president’s publicly released schedule, claims that Trump has played golf 99 days out of the 421 days he has been in office, amounting to 23.5 percent of his time in office.
In July 2025, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers commented on the president’s golfing. She told Newsweek: "President Donald Trump forfeited his business empire to serve the American people, and he has delivered on more promises in the first six months in office than any other president in history—which includes reigning back wasteful spending and carrying out the American people's mandate through The One Big Beautiful Bill.
"The media conveniently failed to cover Joe Biden's beach vacations while he let people behind an autopen destroy our country."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for further comment.
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What Happens Next
As the war with Iran continues, Trump’s travel and leisure activities are likely to remain a point of public and political scrutiny, particularly as images and data related to his golf trips continue to spread online.
Past comments by both the president and his predecessors are also expected to be revisited as the debate over presidential optics during wartime persists.
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