Former President of the United States Donald Trump has recommended athletes "take the money" and join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series lest they be left with "nothing."
The Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey, is set to host the next LIV Golf event on July 31, while the series is set to conclude at another Trump-owned venue in Miami in October. That's sparked outrage from advocacy group '9/11 Justice', which said on Sunday it felt “deep pain and anger” at Trump's decision to lay on those events given Saudi Arabia's links with the September 11 attacks.
The comments came amid rumours Cam Smith is poised to become the latest LIV defector after beating Rory McIlroy to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews on Sunday. Smith, 28, was asked about the speculation soon after lifting the Claret Jug and declined to rule out the possibility.
"All of those golfers that remain 'loyal' to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big 'thank you' from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year," wrote Trump on Truth Social, a platform he created in October 2021.
The former 'Leader of the Free World' went on to warn players would get "nothing" if they didn't move, despite Smith earning close to $10million (£8.4m) this season having yet to complete the switch. "If you don't take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were," he added.
The LIV Golf Series has succeeded in luring a number of big names from the PGA Tour and DP World Tours, both of which have suspended and fined those taking part in the new, Saudi-backed rival. The likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson have joined at the prospect of bigger paydays, but new World No. 2 Smith would be the highest-ranked signing if he were to join.
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Of the 19 plane hijackers responsible for the tragic attacks on September 11, 2001, 15 were believed to be from Saudi Arabia, while orchestrator Osama bin Laden was born in the country. Trump himself connected the Kingdom as being responsible for the attacks while he was running for President.
"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," read the letter by 9/11 Justice.
The group was founded and is ran by family members of some of the 2,977 people killed in the attacks. The statement continued: “It is incomprehensible to us, Mr. Trump, that a former president of the United States would cast our loved ones aside for personal financial gain."
