Topline
Former President Donald Trump offered a baffling response Thursday when pressed by ESPN about his involvement with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf venture, reversing his history of blaming the Saudi government for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Trump reacts on the 15th green during Thursday’s pro-am.
Key Facts
“Nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump responded to a question from ESPN about protests from families of Sept. 11 victims ahead of the LIV Golf tournament at his Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey this week.
This is a major contradiction from Trump’s prior stance about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the attacks: In 2016, he said, “Who blew up the World Trade Center?…take a look at Saudi Arabia.”
Trump has since softened his stance, telling the Wall Street Journal on Monday he couldn’t comment on the Sept. 11-related protestors of the LIV Golf event because he’s unfamiliar with their arguments.
Key Background
Some 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, were Saudi nationals, and, though the U.S. has previously found the Saudi government played no direct role in the attack, documents declassified by the FBI last year offered new details about two of the hijackers’ encounters with a Saudi government employee. Saudi Arabia has long denied any connection to the attacks. Trump has a history of making outlandish statements about Sept. 11, baselessly claiming that he witnessed “thousands” of Muslims in Jersey City cheered on the attacks in 2001. Bedminster is roughly an hour drive from the World Trade Center. The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, finances LIV Golf, drawing stiff controversy from both Sept. 11 victims’ families and press groups concerned about the 2018 murder of journalist and Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has publicly backed LIV Golf for several months, urging golfers last week to “take the money” and defect from the PGA Tour. Trump’s endorsement of the new circuit comes after the PGA Tour publicly shunned him, moving the 2022 PGA Championship away from his Bedminster course in January 2021 following the Capitol riot. The golf league has been a “great thing” for Saudi Arabia, generating billions of dollars worth of publicity, Trump told the Journal on Monday.
Tangent
Trump played in a pro-amateur LIV Golf event at his Bedminster club Thursday, pairing up with stars Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. Other celebrities participating included reality television host Chris Harrison and former NBA star Charles Barkley. Barkley said he expects an offer to join LIV Golf’s broadcast team by Thursday.
Further Reading
Trump Urges Golfers To Join Saudi-Backed LIV Tour: ‘Take The Money’ (Forbes)
Trump: LIV Golf ‘Great’ For Saudi Arabia, Outrage Over Khashoggi Murder Not A Factor (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/07/28/trump-claims-nobodys-gotten-to-the-bottom-of-911-when-pressed-on-ties-to-saudi-funded-liv-golf/