Newsmax guest Mark Kaye defended President Donald Trump and his decision to go golfing amid market turmoil in response to his widespread tariffs.
Kaye appeared on the rightwing broadcaster’s morning show on Monday, Wake Up America, taking part in a discussion about the economic effects of Trump’s tariffs and the media’s reaction to them.
“The big thing I saw was they were all complaining that President Donald Trump was casually playing golf over the weekend,” said Kaye. “Well, when you’re in the middle of a negotiation, you don’t want people to see you stressed out.”
“You don’t want them thinking that you’ve made a mistake. So Donald Trump goes, ‘Here’s the deal. It’s Liberation Day, you’re all getting reciprocal tariffs. I’m going to go hit the links,’” he added. “And now all of the other countries realize that Donald Trump is not losing sleep over this, and that they are going to be losing a large portion of their GDP.”
“So yes, whenever Donald Trump makes a move, whether it’s good or bad for the economy, the other networks, the Democrats, the mainstream media, or the legacy media, they are going to react negatively because they are trying their best to make Donald Trump, one of the most popular presidents in the entire history of our country, look bad and make their party, one of the most unpopular in the history of this country, look, I don’t know, not as bad as they actually are,” he claimed.
Newsmax host Sharla McBride chimed in, saying, “And you know what, is playing golf that bad when we saw our previous president lying on the beach every single weekend? At least this president is getting some exercise, right?”
The segment was highlighted by Mediaite.
Democrats did indeed slam the president for golfing as the markets went into a meltdown. Trump departed Washington, D.C., on Thursday to attend a dinner for the LiV Golf Tournament before taking part in a club championship at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.
On Thursday, the first day of trading after Trump’s announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted almost four percent, and the Nasdaq fell nearly six percent. The slump continued on Friday as the Dow fell 5.5 percent and the S&P 500 went down six percent.
Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, saying, "I think people have seen their retirement savings on fire. And there he is out on the golf course.”
"That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency, that is, the president out on a golf cart while people's retirement is in flames,” he added.
“While Donald Trump is relaxing on the golf course, working people are worried about rising prices and an economic crash,” Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on X on Sunday. “Congress has the power to reel in the dumbest trade war in history—and stop this madness. All we need is a handful of Republican votes to reverse course.”
