Donald Trump sells luxury the way some people sell dreams — loudly, confidently, and with a lot of gold trim — but a former manager’s lawsuit opened up Pandora’s box about his prized golf clubs that look nothing like their brochures.
The president is now named in a lawsuit that exposes the grimy and filthy conditions inside the clubhouse kitchen at Trump’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.
The complaint, first reported by The Daily Beast, was filed by Justina Sacks, a former clubhouse manager who says she was fired after repeatedly raising safety and workplace concerns. What she describes instead is a private club environment that felt disorderly behind the scenes while publicly promising refinement, elegance, and exclusivity.
Sacks alleges the kitchen at the $350,000-a-year club was riddled with serious problems, including contamination issues and alarming staff behavior.
In the spring of this year, health inspectors flagged serious food safety issues at the golf resort. A May 6 inspection of the kitchen at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster earned a 32 out of 100 — a “C” rating — after officials cited conditions they said posed an “imminent health threat,” including improperly stored meat and hand-washing sinks lacking soap, towels, or used to store chemicals, according to Food and Safety News.
The former manager alleges the problems went beyond a dirty kitchen, claiming maggots contaminated the club’s self-serve ice cream machines, while intoxicated kitchen staff worked shifts and supervisors made late-night calls to female servers.
According to the lawsuit, Sacks documented what she observed and pushed for corrections, only to be blamed when scrutiny followed. The complaint even alleges that Trump himself noticed problems during a visit, reportedly complaining about flies on the property — a detail that came as no shock to people who call him “Diaper Don.”
“This doesn’t surprise me,” one wrote, adding, “Misogyny runs rampant with the Trumps. It appears from what the article states, the manager was working under hostile working conditions. I am a former food safety manager. The Board of Health should have shut down the kitchen and the restaurant.”
Another sarcastically wrote, “Mmmmm… maggots & mold in my soft-serve. Yum!”
“Never stay nor eat at a Trump property if this is the way he and Eric treat women employees. I hope she wins a ton of money if all this is true,” a third comment read.
One person even warned, “I think Trump should call Bar Rescue!” suggesting Trump bring in Jon Taffer—the tough-love bar expert from the hit series “Bar Rescue”—to whip his operation and staff into shape using the same no-nonsense business strategies he deploys on the show.
Others made jokes about Sack leaving her eight-year gig at Columbia University as director of dining operations to work for Trump. She was also warned that the internet troll may deny everything she said in one of his insulting rants.
“Trump will respond to the lawsuit by: a) denying knowledge of it; b) claiming he’s a victim of political lawfare; c) saying his club is ‘the cleanest & best in the world’; d) cruelly insulting the female plaintiff online; e) calling it all a hoax; f) ending all health inspections.”
The lawsuit goes further, claiming Sacks was targeted after speaking up. She alleges that enforcing standards and raising concerns triggered hostility instead of support, and that she was eventually pushed out rather than protected. Her attorneys describe a workplace culture where accountability was treated as a liability.
She also alleged that longtime general manager David Schutzenhofer, who has worked at the club for nearly two decades, told her that female employees needed to fit a certain “look,” implying she should prioritize hiring women he considered attractive.
At the core of the legal filing is Sacks’ claim that her dismissal was viewed as retaliation. The lawsuit frames her firing as part of a broader pattern in which raising concerns came at a professional cost.
“A woman in leadership spoke up, enforced the rules, and paid the price,” the complaint states. That line ricocheted across social platforms. “This reads like a cautionary tale for every manager,” one post said. Another added, “You don’t get fired for being wrong — you get fired for being inconvenient.”
The Bedminster allegations are also landing alongside renewed attention on Trump-branded golf courses elsewhere.
In Scotland, data tied to Trump’s Aberdeenshire course showed repeated instances of wastewater samples exceeding contamination limits over several years, though regulators said environmental impact was minimal and operating licenses were renewed. Even so, the pattern fueled online discussion.
The lawsuit lands as Trump faces a widening web of legal troubles beyond his golf courses, with civil fraud penalties and defamation judgments reshaping perceptions of his business empire. Those pressures have been met with flashy branding pivots—from gold sneakers and Bibles to crypto—even as his longer track record shows a mix of wins and collapses, including failed ventures in airlines, casinos, bottled water, and a now-defunct college that once promised prestige.
Sacks’ lawsuit strips the shine from that image, showing what happens when polish meets operations — and when someone inside refuses to look the other way.
It echoes similar allegations from journalist Michael Wolff, who outed his messy late-night habits, alleging Trump regularly ate in bed during his White House years—much to staff’s frustration. The remarks echo tabloid reports that he left guest rooms in disarray during official trips, including takeout containers and stained bedding, adding to long-running conversations about his personal routines behind the scenes.
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