Former President Donald Trump teed off with professional golfers at Thursday’s pro-am at his New Jersey golf course in Bedminster despite objections from 9/11 families for the Saudi sponsored gold tournament, Washington Examiner reports.
Trump hit
the course with 2020 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and two-time major
winner Dustin Johnson ahead of the first round of the Saudi sponsored LIV Golf invitational at
Trump National Golf Course Bedminster in New Jersey, according to Washington
Examiner.
"Glad
that's over with," Trump reportedly said after the first tee.
Trump and Melania attends LIV Golf-Sponsored party in New York
Trump and
wife Melania were seen at a LIV Golf-sponsored party in New York City,
according to Washington Examiner.
Trump blamed
the government for not getting to the bottom of who was behind the 9/11 attacks
following concerns raised by families.
"Nobody’s
gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately. And they should have,” Trump told
ESPN.
The
tournament is slated to commence Friday and would last through Sunday featuring
gold professionals such as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed,
Washington Examiner reported.
9/11 families object to Saudi LIV golf tournament
Before the events
began, Trump received a letter from relatives of those killed and injured in
the September 11 attacks expressing their displeasure at his plans to host two
of the eight events at this year’s Saudi-backed LIV Gold tournament at his
resorts, Washington Examiner reports.
“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 known as 9/11 Justice wrote in the letter, according to Washington
Examiner.
“It is
incomprehensible to us that a former president of the United States would cast
our loved ones aside for personal financial gain,” the letter continued. “We
hope you will reconsider your business relationship with the Saudi golf league
and will agree to meet with us.”
The group
referenced Trump’s prior comments on Saudi involvement in the attacks in a
February 2016 Fox News Interview, according to Washington Examiner.
"Who
blew up the World Trade Center? It wasn’t the Iraqis. It was Saudi. Take a look
at Saudi Arabia, open the documents," he told the network, going on to
add: “The people came, most of the people came from Saudi Arabia. They didn’t
come from Iraq.”
15 out of
the 18 terrorists who hijacked the planes were Saudis.
FBI releases 9/11 declassified records
The FBI
released declassified records from its investigation into potential links
between the Saudi government and 9/11 in September 2021, with some of the
long-anticipated documents released on the 20th anniversary of the al Qaeda
terrorist attacks on the world trade center, the Pentagon and another hijacked
plane which crashed into the Pennsylvania field. More than 2500 people died in
the attacks most of whom were civilians.
Families of
the 9/11 victims have for years sought details that could possibly link the
Saudi government to the terrorist attacks owing to the kingdom’s terrorism
sponsorship. Saudi Arabia says it has no hand in the attacks.