The Saudi-backed LIV Golf League announced Tuesday it will return to the Trump family's Doral resort in April, a sign that the Trump family's business dealings with Saudi government loans will continue after the new president takes office. This is the most obvious sign.
President-elect Donald J. Trump announced the breakaway plan, which was launched in 2021 by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and emerged as a major challenger to the PGA Tour before the two sides entered into a preliminary partnership agreement in 2023. He is a vocal supporter of LIV Golf. .
The tournament at Trump National Doral near Miami will be the fourth year in a row that LIV has organized an event at the venue.
LIV Golf pays the Trump family to use the resort's golf course, and the event drives thousands of ticket-buying fans to the resort, filling the hotel's restaurants and guest rooms during the multi-day event. There is. The LIV event also raises the international profile of the Trump family's more than a dozen golf resorts around the world.
The Doral event will be the first LIV tournament hosted by Trump's company since his return to the White House. The league did not begin play until the end of his first term.
The deal is one of several signs that the Trump family will continue doing business with Middle East-based companies during his presidency.
Trump's son Eric Trump recently announced that he has signed several new real estate branding deals with Saudi-based real estate company Dar Al-Arkan, adding that Trump's son will be in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. A new tower bearing the name will be built. Participated in a previously planned project with Oman's Dar Al-Arkan. Dar Al-Arkan and its subsidiary Dar Global are private companies but have close ties to the Saudi government.
In an interview with the New York Times at the LIV Tournament over the years, Trump has defended the family company's ties to Saudi Arabia and argued the Saudi wealth fund's interest in golf is a true investment in the sport. .
“What they're doing at LIV is very important,” Trump said at the 2022 contest in Doral. “As you can see, they put a lot of effort and a lot of money into it.”
Asked if he had reconsidered hosting the LIV event after seeing the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, Trump replied, “There are human rights issues in this country as well.”
“They are very important allies in the Middle East,” he said. “And we're blowing it, you know? Frankly, we're at odds with Saudi Arabia. But I know people at the highest level and I speak for myself. All I can say is that they are great people and they love America, but America doesn't treat them well.”
Trump has been tight-lipped about how much money he made from the relationship. In 2023, he told reporters at the LIV Tournament at a Washington-area course that the contract was “peanuts to me,” suggesting it was worth less than seven figures. And he claims, with good reason, that the courses LIV rents are among the best in the world, and that the Saudis brought money into his company for sporting purposes, not political purposes. insisted.
In the past, he has deflected criticism from relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, dismissing questions about whether he would sever ties with the league if he returns to power. Ta.
“I understand them and I love them,” he said in 2023. “But it's an incredible economic development and a huge number of jobs.”
