This weekend’s LIV Golf Event in Washington D.C. will be held at Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Trump National Golf Club, and the 9/11 Families United organization has sent a Letter to him regarding hosting the event.
LIV has been controversial due to its funding from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the 9/11 Families United letter to Trump highlights the involvement of the KSA in the 9/11 attacks.
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The letter accuses the KSA of “sport washing” its reputation through popular sporting events, like golf. The $784 million that the KSA spent to bankroll LIV’s first season is compared to the money that was spent to help carry out the attacks, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
Recent evidence that the Biden Administration declassified showed members of the 9/11 hijacking teams with an “alleged Saudi intelligence operative,” which, in the opinion of the 9/11 Families United group, proves their involvement in the attacks, along with other links, is also listed in the letter.
A portion of the letter said:
“We now know, core elements of the Saudi government, including the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, were deeply intertwined with al Qaeda in the decade leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks, and provided al Qaeda with financial and logistical support that enabled them to plan and carry out their mission. At least seven Saudi government agents were implicated in the FBI’s investigation of the support network for the first arriving hijackers, many of whom had other connections to al Qaeda and terrorism.”
The letter also shows Trump’s past comments in terms of partnering with LIV Golf last year, including comments from ESPN that said, “Nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately.” and “I don’t know much about the 9/11 families,” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
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The letter is penned by Terry Strada, National Chairperson of the organization, who lost her husband in One World Trade Center on September 11.
Trump has had a bit of a vendetta against the PGA Tour after the 2022 PGA Championship was moved from Trump Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“I won’t be watching it, no,” Trump said to Michael Bamberger of Golf Digest in a phone interview when asked if he would watch the event, which was won by Justin Thomas. “I will not watch it. The only thing I like about it is that I love Oklahoma, where, as you pointed out brilliantly, I have won 77 outta 77 counties. But I will not be watching it. No.”
In terms of LIV visiting Trump Bedminster last year, he was more than enthusiastic:
“They asked me, they said they wanted to use the course. I made a deal with them. They’re very good people. They’re very fine people. Greg Norman’s been a total gentleman, you know, and he’s wanted to do this for years and now he has the right backers because, you know, [the Saudi money] is unlimited. They can do the job right. I think when you put up first-place prize money for $6 or $7 million, I think a lot of people are gonna be showing up, to be honest with you.”
This weekend’s event comes off the heels of Brooks Koepka’s triumph at the PGA last weekend at Oak Hill Country Club in New York.
The full letter can be read here.
Cover Image Via TIME
