Former US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his support of the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, despite facing backlash from families of 9/11 victims.
The tour’s third event is set to be held at Trump’s National Course this week in Bedminster, New Jersey, while another event will be held at his property in Dural, Florida in October.
Trump recently advocated for golfers to make the jump from the PGA tour to the LIV, leading to outrage from a 9/11 Justice group who accused Trump and the players of accepting ‘bloody money’.
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However, never one to let morals get in the way of making some cash, the ever-controversial Trump once again threw his support behind LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia itself, describing the tour as ‘one of the hottest things to have happened in sports’.
He told Wall Street Journal: “I think LIV has been a great thing for Saudi Arabia, for the image of Saudi Arabia.
“I think it’s going to be an incredible investment from that standpoint, and that’s more valuable than lots of other things because you can’t buy that—even with billions of dollars.”
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He added: “I do think that the publicity that they’ve gotten, more than anything, has been a great thing for them.
“I think the publicity they’ve gotten is worth billions of dollars. It’s one of the hottest things to have happened in sports, and sports is a big part of life.”
Earlier this month members of the 9/11 Justice group penned an open letter to Trump asking him to cut ties with the LIV Group due to the heavy involvement in Saudi Arabia.
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According to the New York Times, the letter read: “We simply cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s golf league to host their tournament at your golf course, and to do so in the shadows of ground zero in New Jersey, which lost over 700 residents during the attacks.
“It is incomprehensible to us that a former president of the United States would cast our loved ones aside for personal financial gain.”
When asked about the criticism from the 9/11 families by the Wall Street Journal, Trump pleaded ignorance.
He added: “I don’t know much about the 9/11 families, I don’t know what is the relationship to this, and their very strong feelings, and I can understand their feelings.
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“I can’t really comment on that because I don’t know exactly what they’re saying, and what they’re saying who did what.”
One can only imagine the money Trump will be gaining from LIV Golf.
Jayden Collins