Last Thursday, Donald J. Trump praised the Saudi Arabian backers of a new golf tournament and criticized the traditional PGA Tour.
Trump spoke briefly before the golf event started. He said, “I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia, and they have been friends of mine for a long time. They’ve invested in many American companies. They own big percentages of many, many American companies, and frankly, what they are doing for golf is so great. What they are doing for the players is so great. The salaries are going to go way up.”
“The LIV Golf series is bankrolled by the sovereign wealth fund, which is overseen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” an article for The New York Times says. In 2018, American intelligence officials concluded Prince Mohammed had approved the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi protester, and journalist. Trump, who criticized the Saudis, failed to support American intelligence.
The Bedminster club had been scheduled to host the PGA Championship previously for 2022, but the PGA of America moved it to Oklahoma after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They later reached a settlement with Trump, and since then, Trump has supported the golf tour.
Trump said, “The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time. Now they have an alternative and nobody ever would have known it was going to be a gold rush like this. I think nobody ever knew that they were going to be paying signing bonuses.
The prize money was going to be much higher, you know, four, five, six times higher. So, instead of a million dollars, you win five or seven or eight. A lot of money, and it’s even going up. But the PGA Tour hasn’t acted well.” The “gold rush” reference was to the prize money.
The future for these golf organizations is uncertain, though they will continue to host golf events.
Trump spoke briefly before the golf event started. He said, “I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia, and they have been friends of mine for a long time. They’ve invested in many American companies. They own big percentages of many, many American companies, and frankly, what they are doing for golf is so great. What they are doing for the players is so great. The salaries are going to go way up.”
“The LIV Golf series is bankrolled by the sovereign wealth fund, which is overseen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” an article for The New York Times says. In 2018, American intelligence officials concluded Prince Mohammed had approved the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi protester, and journalist. Trump, who criticized the Saudis, failed to support American intelligence.
The Bedminster club had been scheduled to host the PGA Championship previously for 2022, but the PGA of America moved it to Oklahoma after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They later reached a settlement with Trump, and since then, Trump has supported the golf tour.
Trump said, “The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time. Now they have an alternative and nobody ever would have known it was going to be a gold rush like this. I think nobody ever knew that they were going to be paying signing bonuses.
The prize money was going to be much higher, you know, four, five, six times higher. So, instead of a million dollars, you win five or seven or eight. A lot of money, and it’s even going up. But the PGA Tour hasn’t acted well.” The “gold rush” reference was to the prize money.
The future for these golf organizations is uncertain, though they will continue to host golf events.
