The invitation, and Trump’s acceptance, were announced by the PGA Tour on 29 August. Rolapp put his own name to the request.
“We are grateful to President Trump for accepting our invitation to serve as Honorary Chairman for the 2026 Presidents Cup,” Rolapp said in the official announcement on presidentscup.com.
Trump confirmed the acceptance on his Truth Social account.
“At the request of the PGA TOUR, and its Great new Commissioner, Brian Rolapp, it is my Honor to accept being the Honorary Chairman of the upcoming Presidents Cup, which will take place at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago,” he wrote, in remarks carried by Townhall.
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“This will be a particularly exciting event. Both teams are ‘loaded’ with Talent.”
Snedeker and Ogilvy meet at Medinah in September
The 16th Presidents Cup is set for 22-27 September on Medinah’s Course No. 3, west of Chicago. The biennial event pits 12 American players against 12 from an International side that excludes Europe. Brandt Snedeker captains the United States for the first time, with Geoff Ogilvy leading the International team.
The United States have dominated the series, winning 13 of 15 previous stagings. The International team’s only outright victory came in Melbourne in 1998, and the 2003 edition in South Africa ended level at 17-17.
Trump joins a short list of heads of state who have taken the chairmanship twice, alongside Barack Obama. Justin Trudeau held the role in 2024, Joe Biden in 2022 and Obama in 2013; Trump’s first turn came in 2017, when the event was played at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey.
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Doral’s April return set the frame
The chairmanship formalizes a pattern that has been building through 2026. The PGA Tour returned to Trump National Doral in April for the Cadillac Championship, a new Signature Event on the 2026 schedule with a $20m purse on the Blue Monster course. It was the Tour’s first visit to Doral since 2016.
Trump has also been publicly credited by the Tour with pushing along its stalled talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over LIV Golf. Commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott met the president at the White House in February 2025, and Fox News reported that the Tour thanked him for helping move the negotiation forward. A framework deal has still not been signed.
Rolapp, a former NFL executive, was appointed PGA Tour CEO in June 2025. The Tour’s Policy Board approved him as the Tour’s fifth commissioner on 23 June 2026, with the title formally passing from Monahan on 1 January 2027.
Snedeker’s Americans and Ogilvy’s International side start play at Medinah on 22 September.
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