Tiger Woods spoke to his good friend Donald Trump after crashing his car—but before his DUI arrest—in Florida last week.
Woods, 50, told officers he had been looking down at his phone before his Land Rover hit the back of a truck and flipped onto the driver’s side in his hometown of Jupiter, bodycam footage previously showed. The golfer was also charged with property damage and failure to submit to a urinalysis test after the accident, and has pleaded not guilty. His breathalyzer test came back all zeroes, police said.
New video, first obtained Thursday by TMZ Sports, provides another detail about the circumstances of Woods’ arrest: a quick call to the president.
Woods, who had been told to stay near a cruiser, at one point had walked down the road, away from the crash scene, the video shows. When an officer called him back, Woods was on the phone. He could be heard telling the person on the other end: “Thank you so much. All right. You got it. Bye.”
After being reminded not to drift away from the scene, Woods replied casually, “Yeah, I was just talking with the president.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast about the call, nor did Woods’ lawyer.
Besides the fact that Woods is dating Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr. and mother of five of the president’s grandchildren, he and the president are close. Trump awarded the golfer the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, the month after he won the Masters for the fifth time. Last February, Trump hosted Woods at the White House for a Black History Month event.
According to an arrest affidavit, a deputy noted that Woods was allegedly acting “lethargic and slow,” and that his eyes appeared “bloodshot and glassy,” while his pupils were “extremely dilated.” Woods allegedly had two opioid painkillers in his pocket at the time of his arrest.
Woods has pleaded not guilty and said in a statement shortly thereafter that he would be “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.”
“This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery,” he added. “I’m committed to taking the time need to return in a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally.”
