Trump Gets More Money from His Saudi Masters

Celebrity golf cheat, grand jury target, and former US President Donald Trump, fresh from his triumphant Senior Golf Tournament cheat last week, has scored three LIV Golf tournaments at his East Coast golf courses for the 2023 season. They will be televised on the CW Network. The Saudi-funded LIV Golf Tour “sportswashing” campaign’s 2022 tour stained the Trump National Golf Clubs in Bedminster, New Jersey and Doral, Florida, and was only seen on YouTube.

Another big difference this year: Donald Trump will be taking foreign money while he is an officially-declared candidate in the 2024 presidential election. When he appears at the LIV tourneys, will the FEC deem them campaign events? We’ll see.

Mr. Trump embraced the insurgent Saudi-backed tour in revenge after the U.S.-based PGA pulled its 2022 championship tourney from his Bedminster course, but he has history backing upstart sports leagues, and it’s not the first time Donald Trump has taken Saudi money. Saudi cash saved Trump from bankrupcy, and, despite anti-Saudi rhetoric during his 2016 campaign, he and son-in-law Jared Kushner have kept their shoddy businesses afloat on an Arabian Gulf of Saudi money.

By April 2022, Jared Kushner’s equity firm primarily depended on Saudi money. Previously, as Trump’s Secretary of Everything, Mr. Kushner had defended Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman. In 2021, after Steven Mnuchin stepped down as Treasury Secretary, the Saudi fund invested $1 billion in his business. It’s unclear how much Mr. Trump will earn from the Saudi-backed golf tour in 2023 but, knowing him, he’ll probably start bragging about it.

Last year there were strong objections to Trump’s embrace of Saudi golf money by the PGA, by survivors of the victims of 9/11, and National Press Club members who remember the “grisly-bonesaw” murder of their collegue Jamal Khashoggi.

More:

“Trump courses hosting three tournaments for Saudi-underwritten LIV Golf,” Stephen Neukam, The Hill

“Trump courses to host 3 events for Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour,” Herb Scribner, Axios

Related:

“Hosting Saudi Golf Tourney, Trump Has Forgotten He Used to Blame Kingdom for 9/11,” Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone

“Trump: LIV Golf tournament a ‘great thing’ for Saudi Arabia,” Jared Gans, The Hill

“The marriage of LIV Golf and Donald Trump is the stuff schemes are made of,” Eamon Lynch, Golfweek

“Donald Trump’s Sketchy Playbook for Blowing Up a Pro Sports League,” Ian Ward, Politico

“Remembering The Tour De Trump, Donald Trump’s Failed Bike Race,” Patrick Redford, Deadspin

“Does Saudi Arabia Own Donald Trump?” NotionsCapital

“Ivana Trump was buried near the first hole of Trump National Golf Club. Her gravesite could offer tax breaks for the business.” Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Isabella Zavarise, Business Insider

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Trump: Senior Golf Cheat

Celebrity golf cheat and former US President Donald Trump held a Senior Golf Tournament at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach last week. The winner? Surprise! It was Donald Trump, and he wasn’t even there for half of it:

“Trump told tournament organizers he played a strong round on the course Thursday, two days before the tournament started, and decided that would count as his Saturday score for the club championship. That score was five points better than any competitor posted during Saturday’s first round.” — Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post

Mr. Trump plays 18 to 26 rounds of golf each week, so the cherrypicking adds nuance to the jawdropping phantom round.

More:

“Trump pilloried as ‘4-year-old cheat’ over golf tournament claims: ‘Guy can’t even con right anymore,’” Namita Singh, The Independent, via Yahoo Sports

“Trump declares himself the winner of his own club championship – in the Trumpiest way ever,” Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post

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LIV Golf: Trump Welcomes His Saudi Masters to New Jersey

While Joe Biden was criticized for his recent fist bump with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Donald Trump has given a big, wet, sloppy kiss to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Tour “sportswashing” campaign. The third tournament of the new pro golf league‘s tour is being held at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Mr. Trump may have embraced the insurgent tour because he’s peeved at the U.S.-based PGA for pulling its 2022 championship tourney from Bedminster, but he has backed upstart sports leagues before, and this is not the first time Donald Trump has taken Saudi money. Far from it. Saudi cash saved Trump from bankrupcy, and, despite anti-Saudi rhetoric during his 2016 campaign, he and son-in-law Jared Kushner have kept their shoddy businesses afloat on an Arabian Gulf of Saudi money.

There have been strong objections to Trump’s embrace of Saudi golf money by the PGA, of course, but also by survivors of the victims of 9/11, and National Press Club members who remember the “grisly-bonesaw” murder of their collegue Jamal Khashoggi.

More:

“Trump Seeks Money and Revenge in Hosting the New Saudi Golf League,” John Cassidy, The New Yorker

“Hosting Saudi Golf Tourney, Trump Has Forgotten He Used to Blame Kingdom for 9/11,” Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone

Updates:

“9/11 families rip Saudi-financed golf tour ahead of finale at Trump resort,” Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill

“Trump: LIV Golf tournament a ‘great thing’ for Saudi Arabia,” Jared Gans, The Hill

“LIV Golf’s latest stop brings together Trump, Saudi Arabia and plenty of criticism,” Bryan Armen Graham, The Guardian

“The marriage of LIV Golf and Donald Trump is the stuff schemes are made of,” Eamon Lynch, Golfweek

“Bill Maher mocks Trump over golf course comments, suggests US trade him for Griner’s release,” Chloe Folmar, The Hill

“LIV Golf Tournament at Trump Club Sees Thin Crowds, $1 Tickets: Reports,” Jason Lemon, Newsweek

“LIV Golf spectator yells, ‘Do it for the Saudi royal family’ at Phil Mickelson,” Riley Hamel, Golfweek

“Golf takes back seat at Saudi-backed, Trump-hosted event,” Bryan Armen Graham, USA Today

Updated Updates:

“LIV Golf sellouts bailed on the PGA Tour. Now they want back in?” Sally Jenkins, Wasghington Post

“Judge rules LIV golfers can’t play in PGA Tour postseason,” TuAnh Dam, Axios

Related:

“Donald Trump’s Sketchy Playbook for Blowing Up a Pro Sports League,” Ian Ward, Politico

“Remembering The Tour De Trump, Donald Trump’s Failed Bike Race,” Patrick Redford, Deadspin

“Does Saudi Arabia Own Donald Trump?” NotionsCapital

“Tiger Woods turned down offer in ‘neighborhood’ of $700M to $800M to play in Saudi-backed tournament, Greg Norman says,” Sarakshi Rai, The Hill

“Ivana Trump was buried near the first hole of Trump National Golf Club. Her gravesite could offer tax breaks for the business.” Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Isabella Zavarise, Business Insider

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Image (“Trump Welcomes His Saudi Masters to New Jersey”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Golf Loser: PGA Scratches Trump Course for 2022 Championship

The PGA announced Sunday that it would not hold its 2022 Championship at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, in New Jersey. The move will certainly be seen as politically motivated by some, but it’s simple economics: it’s about sponsorship. What corporation would want its name and reputation linked with Trump after a violent mob acting in his name attacked the U.S. Capitol and killed a police officer?

The famously litigious Trump will no doubt sue, but the PGA’s lawyers are certainly more capable than, say, Trump golf buddy and attorney Rudy Giuliani.

This hits notorious golf cheat Trump where he lives. Golf is a central part of his self-identity, not just his portfolio. To make matters worse, Trump got shafted by a Florida neighbor. PGA HQ is in Palm Beach Gardens, a 17-mile drive from Mar-a-Lago.

In other sports news, the UK’s Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) said on Monday that it will not hold the British Open or any other major tournaments at Trump Turnberry in Scotland as long as that orange-faced American owns the property.

More:

“PGA Championship leaving Trump National in ’22 tournament,” Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

“PGA of America votes to move 2022 PGA Championship from Trump Bedminster golf club,” Kyle Porter, CBS Sports

“R&A has no plans for British Open at Trump Turnberry in Scotland,” Jason Lusk, Golfweek

“PGA strips Trump-owned golf course of 2022 championship,” Rebecca Falconer, Axios

“The Trump Reckoning Spreads to the Golf World,” Matt Stieb, New York Magazine

“Trump is reportedly more upset about his club not hosting a golf tournament than he is about likely being impeached for a 2nd time,” Oma Seddiq, Business Insider

“An Urgent Reckoning for the Trump Brand After US Capitol Attack,” Eric Lipton, Ben Protess and Steve Eder, New York Times

Related:

“Trump kicks his golf ball back on the course so much that caddies have nicknamed him ‘Pelé,'” Jeva Lange, The Week

“The Serial Golf Cheat in the White House,” John Cassidy, The New Yorker

“Business grows skittish about Trump and GOP after riots,” Josh Boak, Brian Slodysko, and Tom Krisher, Associated Press

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Trump Appoints Giuliani’s Son to the Holocaust Museum Board

United States Temp-President Donald Trump has appointed Andrew Giuliani, son of his epically inept attorney Rudy, to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the museum’s board of trustees. Andy Giuliani, a White House aide, has served as liaison to the sports community, an easy task since so many sports champions have refused to visit the Trump White House or weren’t invited. Andy Giuliani’s chief duty was as the POTUS on-call golf partner, one unlikely to call out his legendary cheating. For that, he’s been paid $95,000 a year. Hope he saved some of that. The new post is unpaid, and only provides travel reimbursement and per diem rates during meetings.

Washingtonian‘s Andrew Beaujon sums up:

“Giuliani will serve a five-year-term on the 55-person board, which meets twice a year. His qualifications include…uh…that time he sued Duke University for cutting him from the golf team? The time he lost his West Wing pass? The time he made out furiously with his wife at the Harman Center?”

Donald Trump appointed two other cronies to the Holocaust Memorial board, Mitch Webber from the Office of the White House Counsel, and Nick Luna, film actor and Trump’s “body man,” or personal attendant. Mr. Webber is Jewish, according to Haaretz; Andy’s Catholic dad once claimed to be “more of a Jew” than Holocaust survivor George Soros. 

But why is Donald Trump appointing pals to the Holocaust Museum board, anyway? Maybe to help him with his defense against any future charges of Crimes Against Humanity.

More:

“Trump taps Giuliani’s son for membership on the Holocaust Memorial Council,” Zach Montague, New York Times

“Trump to name Giuliani’s son to role on Holocaust Memorial Council,” Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

“Trump To Appoint Rudy Giuliani’s Son To Holocaust Memorial Council,” Andrew Solender, Forbes

“Trump Will Appoint Andrew Giuliani, Rudy’s Son, to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“Trump Names Rudy Giuliani’s Son, Two Other Aides to Holocaust Museum Council, JTA and Ron Kampeas, Haaretz

Related:

“The Time Trump Signed Into a Holocaust Museum Like It Was a Bar Mitzvah,” Eric Levitz, New York Magazine

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Trump Skips World Leaders’ COVID-19 Meeting to Play Golf

“Donald Trump skipped the G20 summit’s ‘Pandemic Preparedness’ event to visit one of his golf clubs on the same day that a record 195,500 new Covid-19 infections were reported in a 24-hour period in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins.

The summit, attended by world leaders from across the globe, is being held virtually this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 250,000 Americans – by far the largest total in the world.

Trump’s apparent disinterest in the summit started earlier on Saturday when he started tweeting about the election results after the scheduled start time of the summit at 8am ET. The president appeared via video link during the summit’s opening remarks but by 10am, Trump was leaving the White House to go to his golf course outside of Washington DC, according to CNN.”

— “Trump skips G20 pandemic event to visit golf club as virus ravages US,” Lauren Aratani, The Guardian

More:

“G20 Meets On Coronavirus As Trump Makes 298th Golf Trip Of Presidency,” Andrew Solender, Forbes

“COVID-19: Donald Trump plays golf while world powers discuss pandemic at G20 summit,” Amy Coles, Sky News

“Trump skips G20 coronavirus meeting to play golf and tweet bogus election claims,” Dave Goldiner, NY Daily News

“G20 leaders close Riyadh summit with calls for coordinated response to coronavirus pandemic,” Kareem Fahim, Washington Post

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Trump Loses While On the Golf Course, Where He Spent His Term

As election officials sealed his re-election defeat and 230,000 Americans lay dead, Comander-in-Cheat Donald Trump was on his Viriginia golf course on Saturday morning, where he has spent 284 days of his presidency So far. With 73 days left in office, there’s plenty of time for this lame-duck sore loser to pardon his imprisoned co-conspirators (if not himself), poison the wells, burn the crops, and sow the fields with salt. All from the greens of Trump-branded golf properties, of course, where the caddies won’t call him out for kicking balls closer to the holes.

Watch out, though. President-Elect Biden also plays golf.

More:

“President Trump Releases Statement From The Golf Course On Projected Biden Win,” Dominique Mosbergen and Sara Boboltz, Huffington Post

“Trump’s motorcade greeted by jeering Biden supporters near White House as he returns from playing golf,” Tim O’Donnell, The Week

“Trump Was Golfing When He Lost The Election And He Saw People Celebrating On The Way Back To The White House,” Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News

“Trump Slinks Home From Golf Course and Throws Twitter Tantrum,” Blake Montgomery, Daily Beast

“What Trump might do now he’s lost the election: From pardoning cronies to sabotaging the transition,” Alex Woodward, The Independent

“Trump’s 75-day finale, fully unrestrained,” Glen Johnson, Axios

“The destructive power of a lame duck president,” Oliver Staley, Quartz

Update:

“It was perhaps inevitable it would end when Trump was on the golf course,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

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Trump: 7 Shots in the Back is Like a Missed Putt

U.S. President, Commander-in-Chief, and celebrity golf cheat Donald Trump compared the police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times last month to a golfer who missed a simple putt:

“They can do 10,000 great acts, which is what they do, and one bad apple – or a choker, you know, a choker, they choke – shooting the guy in the back many times. But they choke, just like in a golf tournament, they miss a 3-foot putt.”

More:

“Trump compares police brutality to golfers who ‘miss a three-foot putt,’” Quint Forgey. Politico

“How to sort the good cops from the rotten: Ask them about Trump’s golf-putt metaphor,” Philip Kennicott, Washington Post

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100,000 Americans Die; Trump Plays Golf

On Memorial Day weekend, as the number of Americans dead from COVID-19 approached 100,000, President Donald Trump played golf on one of his private courses. Trump National Golf Club is in Sterling, Virginia, only 30 minutes from Arlington National Cemetery, so it might have been the president’s way of observing the solemn holiday.

More:

“Trump tees up controversy as he plays golf in a pandemic,” Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

“Trump Plays Golf at His Virginia Club as U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Nears 100,000,” Daniel Politi, Slate

“US nears 100,000 pandemic deaths: Does Trump feel your pain?” Calvin Woodward, Associated Press

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How To Play Golf

“How to Play Golf,” a 1944 Disney theatrical cartoon featuring Goofy. Directed by Jack Kinney; principal animation by Bill Justice and John Sibley. Narrated by Fred Shields.

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