Trump Shares Scavino Bowling Clip in Late-Night Instagram Repost

Trump amplifies a social media video from aide Dan Scavino celebrating a bowling strike, adding to a run of external-link posts on Truth Social.

First Published: July 15, 2026, 8:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump shared a link to an Instagram video by mentioning the source (see instagram), pointing followers to a clip posted by longtime aide Dan Scavino.

The reel, published by Scavino, shows him bowling and celebrating a strike, captioned with a joking reference to going bald and a string of celebratory emojis. The post drew hundreds of likes and comments from supporters within minutes of appearing.

Here is the full post on Truth Social: “https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da1tu08OPxD/?igsh=MWFmNXIxMzR3ZzBhbw==” on July 16, 2026 at 12:35 AM ET.

This is one of many messages released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces roughly 17 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The link itself has a separate life online. The same Instagram address surfaced in a local news report about Kip “Your Real Estate Dude” Barnard, a San Jose-based real estate agent who used a June 27 reel to warn that “Los Gatos is watching your car” and that “drones are circling downtown right now” (see losgatan.com). The URL Trump shared, however, resolves to Scavino’s bowling clip rather than the parking video, underscoring how the same shortened links can point to very different content.

The stakes here are modest but telling. Reposts and casual links let Trump keep his account active and personal without staking out policy. A presidential amplification hands aides like Scavino instant reach to millions of followers, while critics argue such posts blur official channels into personal social media.

The surveillance debate referenced in the local coverage carries higher stakes for ordinary residents. The Town of Los Gatos, California, ran a 30-day drone-based parking study that ended last Oct. 15, gathering license plate data and aerial photos before deleting anonymized results (see losgatan.com). The study found an average parking occupancy rate of 41% and an average length-of-stay of 2.68 hours. A month after the drone survey concluded, the Council approved a 10-year, $2.79 million contract with Axon Enterprise, Inc., expanding on a December 2023 deal worth $800,000 (see losgatan.com).

For the average U.S. reader, the episode is a reminder that a single shared link can travel across platforms and take on new meaning, and that local governments increasingly deploy cameras and drones. Los Gatos and Flock Safety now report 37 automated license-plate cameras in operation, having detected 533,336 vehicles in the past 30 days (see losgatan.com).

Has this happened before? This has happened before. Trump has routinely reposted content from Scavino, his deputy chief of staff, throughout his time in office, often sharing videos and images without added commentary as a way to signal approval to his base.

The next move rests with Trump’s own posting habits, and no schedule governs when the next repost will land. A date for any follow-up has not been announced.

Sharing an aide’s lighthearted clip is not the first time a president has leaned on a trusted communications hand to shape an online image. Scavino has run Trump’s social media operations since the 2016 campaign, when he rose from managing a New York golf club to directing digital messaging for a national campaign. Over the following decade he became one of the most durable figures in Trump’s orbit, surviving staff turnover that removed dozens of senior officials. His steady presence made him among the few aides to hold influence across both terms.

The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 17 of his 517 posts over the last 30 days focused on reposts and external links.