Donald Trump only follows 41 people on Twitter – including this South African
US president-elect Donald Trump is notorious for his rants on social media platform, Twitter, but is more prudent when it comes to the opinions he sees on his own timeline.
Trump currently follows only 41 people on the platform, who, unsurprisingly, are largely made up of his own family members (including his children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr.), and his various business interests.
Other ‘lucky’ accounts which the US’s future president follows include his running mate, Mike Pence; conservative political commentators, Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly; and chief executive of the World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon.
One name stands out, however – South African pro golfing legend, Gary Player, who features among a mish-mash of “Trumps”, supportive media, and pro-Trump republicans.
Trump’s relationship with 80-year-old Player is fairly casual and rather distant. Both men have expressed a great deal of respect for each other, but only in the context of golf and golfing.
In 2014, Player and Trump shook hands at the launch of the Gary Player Villa at Trump National Doral in Miami, which became part of the Trump Hotel Collection that year.
The Gary Player Villa was designed by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and was part of a revamp project that signified “the Trump family’s continued commitment to honoring the great legends of golf”.
Trump has only praised Player, saying that “he worked harder than any other golfer”, calling him a “great, great golfer”.
Player, for his part, has said publicly that he does not always approve of many of Donald Trumps comments, but maintains that Trump has done great things for golf.
In an interview in July 2015 – after Trump made controversial comments about Hispanics in the US, calling illegal immigrants rapists and criminals and saying he would deport them and build a wall – Player was asked what he thought about the matter:
“It’s always difficult because people are very judgemental about what people say. I would certainly never have said the things Donald Trump has said – I don’t agree with the way he puts things across, he could have been far more diplomatic and more presidential on his points of view.
“I think he made a mistake, and will regret saying it – but this is all very…it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize…but he’s done a lot for golf, and he’s done a lot for a lot of people,” Player said at the time.
[Image sources: Florida Golf Magazine]
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