Butler at Donald Trump's golf resort reveals 'truth' about the US President's approach to tipping his staff

In the past, Donald Trump has been accused on being tight-fisted when it comes to tipping.

The 45th and 47th president of the United States is a polarising figure in the political sphere. And his alleged approach to ensuring his wins wagers of the golf course by any means necessary would suggest that past accusations of being reluctant to open his wallet for service workers might be true.

One sportswriter wrote and entire book about Trump's cheating habits on the links and how he refuses to play fair when betting on the game with his golfing partners.

And in 2022, Buzzfeed published an anecdote from one server who claimed Trump left a miserly $20 tip despite he and his family having been gifted a free meal worth $1,300.

Donald Trump playing a round of golf. Image: Getty

"While in college in the late 1980s, I worked at Jim McMullen's in NYC on the Upper East Side. One night after we closed the restaurant, Donald Trump came in with his then-wife Ivana, their kids, and their friends. In total, there were about 12 of them," the article said.

"Jim asked me if I'd mind serving them, and I said I didn't. So, he opened the kitchen and joined them, and I brought them their dinner and drinks.

"The check was about $1,300 — a lot back then. When I dropped the check, Jim said, 'No check' and brushed me away. Normally, when your check is comped, you leave a generous tip — sometimes, up to half the check (or even more). When I bussed the table after, some two hours later, under Donald's plate was a neatly folded $20 bill."

However, Trump has often fought back against claims that he is not a generous tipper.

"I do like leaving tips at the hotel. You know, I like to carry a little something," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in 2019 when asked about the money pictures that captured him with $20 bills protruding from his back pocket.

"Maybe a president is not supposed to do it, but I like to leave a tip at the hotel."

And a butler at one of the president's resorts leapt to his employer's defence, insisting that Trump is not shy about whipping out the big bucks for staff.

"You're a Hispanic and you're in here trimming the trees and everything, and a guy walks up and hands you a hundred dollars," the butler, Mr Anthony Senecal, told the New York Times. "And they love him, not for that, they just love him."

Author Tim O'Brien, a Trump biographer and outspoken critic of the president, said Trump may have become more generous over time.

"Among hotel workers in Atlantic City, back when he was running things down there, he was considered a cheap tipper," he told the Washington Post.

"I've heard, anecdotally, that in his later years, at some of the hotels he operates in DC and New York, he's become a more generous tipper."