Donald Trump confidently praised Bryson DeChambeau as the current U.S. Open champion during Sunday’s White House Christmas reception. Surprisingly, no one corrected him. Not his aides, not the audience. Not even the golfer himself.
During the White House Christmas reception on Sunday, December 14, President Trump announced to the audience, “We have a man who just won the U.S. Open in golf.” He praised this man’s brilliant game, his $200 million contract, and his “head” that’s “better than all of his game.”
Everyone must be expecting J.J. Braun to appear from the shadows in that moment. But then, Trump invited professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau onto the stage. Yes, the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Open winner. Trump then drooled over DeChambeau’s body as he made his way toward the stage, saying, “If you rip off the jacket, you’re gonna see the muscles are serious.”
Then, he offered DeChambeau the podium as “the current U.S. Open champion.” That introduction was plainly false. Bryson DeChambeau is a two-time U.S. Open champion, winning in 2020 and again in 2024. But the current U.S. Open champion is J.J. Spaun, who won the title in 2025.
This wasn’t a technicality or a minor slip. It was a basic, verifiable fact, and Trump got it wrong on stage at an official White House event. What made it more disturbing was how no staffer stepped in to correct him. And DeChambeau himself played along. Instead of clarifying the mistake, the golfer launched into a glowing speech praising Trump, calling the economy “the greatest we’ve ever had.”
DeChambeau thanked Trump for his leadership and humanity, and called his ongoing second term “incredible.” The incorrect title just hung there, unchallenged, as he basked in the false glory. But the detail didn’t go unnoticed online. Social media users immediately pointed out the error and the pattern it fits into. One wrote,
“JJ Spaun is the current U.S. Open champion. Donald Trump has dementia… and the American media just shrugs its shoulders.”
Another asked the more uncomfortable question: “Why do they all play along?” But just seconds into his speech, it made sense why DeChambeau didn’t correct Trump. “Just to be serving on the president’s Council of Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition has been such an honor,” DeChambeau said. And, of course, Trump’s counselors cannot utter a word against him, even if it means looking like a fool themselves.
So, DeChambeau instead accepted the false title and pivoted straight into political flattery. As one user put it, “He didn’t correct Trump on calling him the current U.S. Open champion and then says this is the best economy we’ve ever had… I guess it’s good for him with all the bone saw money.” And Trump didn’t escape the online scrutiny either.
One bluntly wrote, “Someone needs to make sure Trump is taking his meds.” But whether you call it cognitive decline, memory lapses, or something else entirely, the pattern is frustrating. Trump says something wrong, the room goes quiet, and the mistake becomes “truth” by default. It’s getting harder and harder to believe that the president really “aced” his cognitive tests.
Published: Dec 15, 2025 07:06 am