Trump drama at elite golf club

PRESIDENT Donald Trump is a member of the elite Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester, and members have come out swinging because the club will not honor him by putting up a POTUS portrait.

Insiders say that the Republicans among the 800 members of the exclusive golf club — which charges as much as $200,000 in initiation fees — have been lobbying for a portrait of Trump to be erected inside Winged Foot’s stone clubhouse. But opponents aren’t putting up with it.

One insider said, “Trump has been a member since 1969, and there is a big push to honor him at the club. We should be proud that the president of the United States is a member of Winged Foot: It is prestigious to have him here. But the senior club management has refused to put up a Trump portrait,” the source added.

There is speculation that the decision not to honor Trump is either to avoid driving a wedge between members — who include many prominent New York law firm partners and investment bankers — or a financial move so as not to offend any charities or organizations that may wish to hold events there. The insider continued, “It seems the leaders of Winged Foot do not want to rock the boat and politicize the club, given that the US Open will be at Winged Foot in 2020.”

Also, said the source, many charities had canceled plans to host fund-raisers at Palm Beach, Fla., club Mar-a-Lago “due to the political turbulence associated with this choice of venue.” The Winged Foot insider added that club bosses seem to be trying to erase signs of Trump’s membership. “Each member has a locker with their name on it, but Mr. Trump’s name has been mysteriously taken down. Some members are outraged because there seems to be no justification, apart from, perhaps, too many people were trying to take selfies at Trump’s locker, or they simply don’t want to advertise his membership.” Club President Thomas Leslie — an attorney and managing shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, which was one of Hillary Clinton’s top contributors in the last election cycle — didn’t return calls.