Rooney recalls surreal golf encounter with President Trump

Wayne Rooney has described an extraordinary encounter during a short spell in North America while he was at Derby County. Speaking on the Sky TV show A League of Their Own, Rooney recounted how an unexpected round of golf with U.S. President Donald Trump turned into a surreal security spectacle.

“When he was President the first time, I went to play golf. My friend was over from Manchester. We went to play golf at his course and when we got there, there were sniffer dogs and there was security everywhere,” said the ex-England international.

Rooney described the arrival of Trump and the extraordinary precautions that followed. “And he said, ‘The President’s coming in, he’s playing with you.’ We’re playing with snipers everywhere. There’s all kinds. It was surreal. There were three big Escalades there. And one of them had a box on the back.

“So, I said to him, ‘What’s that for?’. He said if there’s a nuclear attack, he gets put in that and airlifted out. So I was like, ‘What happens to us?’. He was like, ‘You are f—–!’”

The episode took place during the period after Rooney had joined Derby County as a player-coach in 2019. He did not remain in North America for long, but the encounter left an impression that he later shared on television.

Rooney went on to return to the United States in a managerial capacity, reuniting briefly with D.C. United when he became their manager midway through 2022. His tenure in the capital lasted a little over a year before he and the club parted ways.

The account offers a rare, first-hand glimpse of the security arrangements that can accompany high-profile visits and of how an ordinary activity such as a round of golf can become a tightly controlled event when a head of state is involved.