On Thursday, former president Donald Trump endorsed the controversial LIV Golf series, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia, a country controversial for its human rights. He lavished praise onto the tournament’s backers, even calling them his friends.
“I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine for a long time,” Trump, an avid golfer himself, said after taking practice swings on the driving range. “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.”
Even as Trump has touted the increased salary as an incentive for professional players to join LIV Golf, the organization has come under scrutiny for its Saudi Arabian backers. Specifically, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been suspected of authorizing the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident journalist. The crown prince oversees the sovereign wealth fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf.
Trump also has a bone to pick with the P.G.A. of America, which was supposed to hold the 2022 PGA Championships at Trump’s club at Bedminster in New Jersey. However, it later switched the location to Oklahoma, saying that holding the championships at Bedminster would be “detrimental to the P.G.A. of America brand.”
In lieu of the PGA championships, Trump’s Bedminster club is set to host LIV Golf’s tour’s third event.
Since then, the players who had switched over to LIV Golf for its generous salaries have either been suspended or resigned from the PGA Tour, although they are not barred from participating in the four major tournaments which are not run by PGA.
“The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time,” Trump said. “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.”
When asked about allegations of Saudi backing for the terrorist attacks, the basis for a planned protest by the families of 9/11 victims and others at the start of Friday’s event, Trump said that nobody was certain.
“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump said. “They should have. As to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world, so nobody’s really been there.”
The controversy surrounding Trump and the Saudi Arabian state is nothing new, but the lure of money may possibly threaten the moral integrity of golf – something unprecedented in recent history.
Original Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/sports/golf/donald-trump-liv-saudi-pga.html
“I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine for a long time,” Trump, an avid golfer himself, said after taking practice swings on the driving range. “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.”
Even as Trump has touted the increased salary as an incentive for professional players to join LIV Golf, the organization has come under scrutiny for its Saudi Arabian backers. Specifically, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been suspected of authorizing the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident journalist. The crown prince oversees the sovereign wealth fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf.
Trump also has a bone to pick with the P.G.A. of America, which was supposed to hold the 2022 PGA Championships at Trump’s club at Bedminster in New Jersey. However, it later switched the location to Oklahoma, saying that holding the championships at Bedminster would be “detrimental to the P.G.A. of America brand.”
In lieu of the PGA championships, Trump’s Bedminster club is set to host LIV Golf’s tour’s third event.
Since then, the players who had switched over to LIV Golf for its generous salaries have either been suspended or resigned from the PGA Tour, although they are not barred from participating in the four major tournaments which are not run by PGA.
“The PGA was not loved by a lot of the players, as you know, for a long time,” Trump said. “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.”
When asked about allegations of Saudi backing for the terrorist attacks, the basis for a planned protest by the families of 9/11 victims and others at the start of Friday’s event, Trump said that nobody was certain.
“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump said. “They should have. As to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world, so nobody’s really been there.”
The controversy surrounding Trump and the Saudi Arabian state is nothing new, but the lure of money may possibly threaten the moral integrity of golf – something unprecedented in recent history.
Original Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/sports/golf/donald-trump-liv-saudi-pga.html
