Former President Donald Trump plays during the pro-am round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament. Photo / AP
Former President Donald Trump plays during the pro-am round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament. Photo / AP
Former US President Donald Trump has stoked anger with comments about the 9/11 terror attacks, claiming that "nobody's gotten to the bottom" of the atrocity that killed 2977 people in 2001.
Trump's comments came ahead of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series which is due to take place at his own course in Bedminster, New Jersey, and has seen Trump accused of "covering for the Saudis".
Trump was playing at a Pro-Am tournament at the course ahead of the main event and made the comments to an ESPN reporter.
The families of 9/11 victims have criticised Trump for hosting the event and the reporter pushed Trump for a response to their concerns.
"Well, nobody's gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately, and they should have as to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to our world," Trump said. "So nobody's really been there."
"I've known these people for a long time. They've been friends of mine for a long time. They've invested in many American companies," Trump said.
"They own big percentages of many, many American companies and, frankly, what they're doing for golf is so great. What they're doing for the players is so great. The salaries are going to go way up."
Former President Donald Trump hits out of a sand trap on the fifth hole. Photo / AP
Saudi Arabia has long been suspected by many Americans as having a hand in the attacks, with Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers hailing from the oil-rich nation.
US broadcaster Bob Cesca tweeted: "Trump went full 9/11 Truther at a Saudi-sponsored event for the same reason he refused to criticise Putin. He needs the $$$$."
Trump went full 9/11 Truther at a Saudi-sponsored event for the same reason he refused to criticize Putin. He needs the $$$$.
NBC's Mike Sington said the comments were "jaw-dropping" and said that Trump only cared about the bottom line
"Of course, with Trump it's about money, money, money, and he could (not) give a damn about 9/11."
Sports journalist Rick Strom wrote: "He's covering for the Saudis, including one of the darkest days in American history, because they enrich him at every turn. Gross. Unacceptable."
The 9/11 victims' families wrote to Trump this week, pointing out that he had once pointed the finger at the Saudis himself.
"Who blew up the World Trade Centre? It wasn't the Iraqis — it was Saudi. Take a look at Saudi Arabia. Open the documents," Trump told Fox News in 2016
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001. Photo / Getty Images
The families said the decision to host the event was causing them "extreme pain, frustration, and anger," adding that they "simply cannot understand" why Trump would take money from LIV.
The Saudi government has always denied any involvement in the attacks, despite a recently declassified FBI report showing that two Saudi nationals who were living in the US in 2001 had ties to the hijackers - and one had official Saudi diplomatic status.
The third LIV Golf event, which starts Friday (US time) at Trump National Bedminster, added four new players to the 48-man field that illustrated how the disruption goes beyond the PGA Tour.
Henrik Stenson of Sweden is among the newcomers, which led the European tour to strip him of the Ryder Cup captaincy for the 2023 matches in Italy.
Stenson was made aware during his news conference of a report in The Daily Telegraph, later matched by Golf Digest, that Luke Donald would be Europe's captain.
"I don't feel like I've given it up," Stenson said. "I made every arrangement possible here to be able to fulfil my captain's duties, and I've had great help here from LIV to be able to do that. And still, the decision was made that I was to be removed. I'm obviously disappointed over the situation. But it is what it is, and yeah, we move on from there now."
The tournament was thirsty work for the former President. Photo / AP
By adding Stenson - the other three were Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Jason Kokrak - LIV Golf now has 12 former major champions on its roster, though only five among the top 50 in the world ranking.
"You have really the best players in the world, many of the best players, and soon you'll probably have all of them," said Trump, who played in the pro-am with Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, along with his son, Eric.
"Remember this, if there's a merger (between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour), the people who didn't come will never get anything except a thank-you from the people who took advantage of them."
There is no conversation at the PGA Tour about a possible merger. Commissioner Jay Monahan said last month that while the tour welcomes healthy competition: "The LIV Saudi golf league is not that. It's an irrational threat, one not concerned with the return on investment or true growth of the game."
