Donald Trump was playing in a new LIV Golf tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
During a short interview with a handful of reporters, Trump praised the Saudi Arabian backers of the controversial LIV Golf company. He explained LIV Golf was bringing in more income for the players which was beneficial for the sport.
“I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine for a long time,” Trump said 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.”
LIV Golf company is new competition for the PGA Tour. LIV Golf has invited and stole many PGA Tour players to join their league with hefty offers. The company is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investments Fund and overseen by the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
In the past, Trump has criticized the Saudis during his campaign trail before 2016. During that time, American intelligence officials concluded that Prince Mohammed had authorized the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi objector and journalist with the Washington Post.
Trump was paid an unknown amount of money from LIV Golf for them to use his club on Thursday’s tournament, but it was sure enough for Trump to side with them.
“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.”
Trump was also asked about families of victims from the 9/11 attack that were going to protest at the same time the tournament starts. The protestors believe the Saudi government, who endorsed $400 million to LIV Golf, also backed the organizers of the 9/11 attack.
“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump responded with a general remark. “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.”
Sources:
Trump Criticizes PGA Tour and Praises Saudis for Backing LIV Golf – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Donald Trump’s relationship with LIV Golf is off to a big start — and could get even bigger (yahoo.com)
During a short interview with a handful of reporters, Trump praised the Saudi Arabian backers of the controversial LIV Golf company. He explained LIV Golf was bringing in more income for the players which was beneficial for the sport.
“I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine for a long time,” Trump said 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.”
LIV Golf company is new competition for the PGA Tour. LIV Golf has invited and stole many PGA Tour players to join their league with hefty offers. The company is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investments Fund and overseen by the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
In the past, Trump has criticized the Saudis during his campaign trail before 2016. During that time, American intelligence officials concluded that Prince Mohammed had authorized the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi objector and journalist with the Washington Post.
Trump was paid an unknown amount of money from LIV Golf for them to use his club on Thursday’s tournament, but it was sure enough for Trump to side with them.
“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.”
Trump was also asked about families of victims from the 9/11 attack that were going to protest at the same time the tournament starts. The protestors believe the Saudi government, who endorsed $400 million to LIV Golf, also backed the organizers of the 9/11 attack.
“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump responded with a general remark. “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.”
Sources:
Trump Criticizes PGA Tour and Praises Saudis for Backing LIV Golf – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Donald Trump’s relationship with LIV Golf is off to a big start — and could get even bigger (yahoo.com)
