Families of 9/11 victims blast Trump for hosting Saudi-backed golf tournament

The families of the victims who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack wrote a letter to former President Trump on Sunday blasting his decision to host a Saudi-backed LIV Golf event at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club later this month. 

The 9/11 Justice group urged the former president cancel the plans, noting Trump’s past remarks blaming Saudi Arabia for the terrorist attacks, the New York Times reported. 

LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed golfing league run by former professional golfer Greg Norman, is scheduled to hold its tournament at Trump’s National Golf Club Bedminster from July 29 to 31. 

“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,” the group wrote in its letter to Trump.

“It is incomprehensible to us that a former president of the United States would cast our loved ones aside for personal financial gain. We hope you will reconsider your business relationship with the Saudi golf league and will agree to meet with us.” 

The Hill has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.

A number of high-profile pro golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, and Dustin Johnson have defected from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, which is paying far more in guaranteed money.

In response to the migration, the PGA tour has banned and fined defectors, who have also been peppered with questions about Saudi Arabia’s record of human rights abuses. 

President Biden has also been on the receiving end of criticism this weekend over his visit to Saudi Arabia and his fist-bump on Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , who U.S. intelligence said ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist and Saudi government opponent Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.