President Donald Trump reportedly has a standing request when his golf entourage reaches the 11th hole at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington: Make sure everyone gets a hot dog, including the Secret Service agents protecting him.
The agents do not simply receive the food for free. According to a new Forbes investigation by Dan Alexander, a former club employee said staff created a Secret Service account so the agents could eat the hot dogs Trump ordered while his club billed the agency afterward.
Trump reportedly takes unusual pride in the food served from the course’s halfway house. When the presidential motorcade is particularly large, staff have prepared as many as 50 hot dogs for a group that can include roughly 30 golf carts carrying Secret Service agents and others accompanying him.
Forbes did not publish the price charged for the hot dogs or an invoice showing how much the government has spent on them. The unusual arrangement was one detail in a broader look at Trump’s golf routine, which Forbes says has taken him to his properties on about 165 of his first 600 days back in office.
The Club Created a Secret Service Hot Dog Account
Donald Trump is obsessed with the hot dogs at one of his golf courses. So obsessed that he orders one for everyone around him, including his Secret Service detail.
Then, according to a former employee, the club bills the Secret Service for the hot dogs.https://t.co/yYBb05LdwN
— Dan Alexander (@DanAlexander21) September 7, 2026
Trump’s preferred stop is a snack shack beside the 11th tee at his club in Sterling, Virginia. Forbes reported that the executive chef takes over the grill when Trump visits, replacing the foil wrapped hot dogs normally available to members with versions grilled to order and served in warmed potato buns.
“Chef, get everyone a hot dog, all these guys,” a former employee recalled Trump saying. Depending on the size of the group, staff might prepare food only for the six to 10 people immediately around Trump or enough for the much larger motorcade.
The Secret Service detail created a complication. Forbes reported that ethics restrictions prevent agents from simply accepting gifts from the people they protect, so a former employee said the club established an agency account. “It got to the point where we had to start a Secret Service account at the club so that he could see them getting the hot dogs,” the former worker told Forbes, “but then we could charge the Secret Service for the hot dogs.”
Not Everyone Wants the Full Trump Hot Dog
The presidential version comes with plenty of mustard and relish. One former employee told Forbes that Trump uses enough condiments that staff occasionally had to bring him another golf shirt from the pro shop after a spill. Another former employee disputed that characterization, describing Trump as careful and deliberate with the mustard.
The White House also rejected the spill account. Its press office told Forbes it was “not true” that Trump frequently spills food on himself.
Some of Trump’s golfing companions reportedly have a different problem by the time they reach the 11th hole: They are still full from breakfast. Forbes reported that his regular golf mornings begin with the foursome eating together, with Trump’s usual order described as three strips of bacon and three well cooked eggs.
Rather than turn down the hot dog later, some members have reportedly made private arrangements with the chef for smaller versions without Trump noticing. The former employees described the food stop as a regular part of a fast golf routine in which Trump’s group moves quickly around the course and frequently plays through groups ahead of it.
Forbes Counted About 165 Days at Trump Golf Properties
The hot dog account was part of Forbes’ wider examination of how Trump spends his time at his private golf properties. Using dispatches tracking his daily movements, the publication counted visits to one of his courses on approximately 165 of his first 600 days since returning to the White House.
Forbes estimated that Trump spent more than 1,400 hours at those properties during that period. A White House spokesperson did not dispute that he spends considerable time at his clubs but said the visits are not devoted entirely to golf, pointing to meetings and fundraisers that also take place there.
People who have played with Trump described his rounds as unusually fast. One person told Forbes that four golfers using carts can finish 18 holes with him in about two hours and 35 minutes. Groups ahead of the president are commonly expected to let his foursome play through.
Trump recently told Republican lawmakers that he might step away from golf as the November midterm elections approach, promising, “I’ll be with you 100%.” Forbes reported that he subsequently left Washington for a long weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club.