President Trump, who used the power of the presidency to intervene in global sports diplomacy, deepened his efforts on Thursday to make an elusive agreement with the PGA Tour and the Saudi-supported Liv Golf League who ultimately manage the golf courses of his Family could benefit.
For the second time this month, Mr. Trump organized important negotiators in the White House to try to restore a bitter infringement between the prestigious American Herengolftournee and the rebellious Bank Rolls competition by the Sooedi Arabia.
Thursday's meeting was particularly remarkable, because it was not only Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour Commissioner, who visited the Oval office at the beginning of February, but also Yasir al-Rahalyyan, who is LIV's chairman and the head of the sovereine Wealth Fund, As well as visited, as well as The Golf Great Tiger Woods.
The session underlined what ethical experts say is a growing pattern of conflicts of interest in Mr Trump's second term. Although it is common for American presidents to promote American companies, such as the PGA Tour, Mr. Trump's lead role in these negotiations is very unusual because the outcome could benefit its own company. The Trump family controls one of the world's best portfolios of golf courses and has organized tournaments for the PGA Tour and, more recently, Liv.
A permanent agreement with the rival circuits could again lead the top figures of the sport to compete against each other during the Trump family courses, so that the company of Mr. Trump possibly offers millions of dollars and larger prestige. It may also require some involvement from the Ministry of Justice, whose antitrust enforcers are tailored to the question of whether a deal would suppress competition in the United States.
During a Black History Month reception on Thursday, Mr. Trump, who had long foreseen himself as a sports broker, dizzy for Mr. Woods and the golfer Adam Scott, both members of the PGA Tour board. He said he had participated with his visitors in 'interesting discussions', but he did not go out.
Thursday's meeting was at least the third time in 16 days that Mr Trump had contact with Mr. Al-Rahalyyan. Earlier this month, the Saudi official called the president's meeting with Mr. Monahan and Mr. Scott. On Wednesday, Mr Al-Rahalyyan was in one of the front rows when the president spoke a conference in Miami Beach, sponsored by a foundation associated with the Wealth Fund. He later flew to Washington for the private meeting.
The power fund did not comment on Thursday's session, but approached hours later during a dinner in Florida, Mr. Al-Rahalyyan said it was 'good'. He did not answer whether the meeting had led to progress in the direction of a deal.
In a statement, Mr. Monahan, Mr. Scott and Mr. Woods described the meeting as “a constructive work session” and said they “were dedicated to move as quickly as possible” in the direction of an agreement with the Saudis.
Mr. Trump's decision to insist fits in an increasingly clear pattern to process the personal financial interests of his family with his official role. Although presidents are exempt from laws for conflicts of interest that prohibit federal employees to take actions that directly influence their financial possession, other presidents in general have voluntarily honored that standard.
Only a few days before Mr. Trump he launched a digital currency called $ Trump, and he has continued to promote since he took office. Since he was introduced again in the White House, he has helped to bring traffic to Truth Social, the social media platform that is run by Trump Media, a company in which he is the majority shareholder, by using it to communicate about his presidency. Trump Media has also just announced that it will expand to financial services products that industry experts say that the federal securities and exchange commission requires approvals.
The White House spokespersons have said that Mr Trump does not tolerate any conflicts of interest, but has not answered specific questions about whether he is concerned.
The golf courses of the Trump family are run by the Trump organization, controlled by the two oldest sons of the president. The company has said that in his second term the president will not have control over the daily decisions of the company and that it will not enter into transactions or contracts with a foreign government, except for ordinary transactions.
But on Thursday, ethics and business experts said that the Trump organization still benefits from a deal that heals the gorges of Golf. Although the personal interest of the Trump family seems clear, the government or the public interest is “not at all clear,” says Kathleen Clark, a professor of law specializing in government ethics at Washington University in St. Louis.
If a deal is subject to antitrust or other federal supervision, she said, Mr Trump's intervention is “even more disturbing because it can mean the federal supervisors that they have to fall behind it”.
The Trump family has business interests with regard to the Saudis that go much further than golf. The sovereign wealth fund of $ 925 billion Mr al-Rahalyyan Leads has drawn up a private equity fund prepared by the son-in-law Jared Kushner of Mr. Trump. Less than two months before Mr Trump's inauguration, the Trump organization announced two real estate projects in Riyad, the Saudi capital.
Mr. Trump, who enjoys his own golf rounds, would like to rehabilitate a sport that has been in a diverse degree of Breuk for several years. Although the temperatures have decreased more recently, LIV's launch of 2022 Effective Elite players required to choose a side: the location-friendly, if less lucrative, PGA tour, or the high-rolling, apostate option that Liv dangled.
The PGA Tour, desperate to protect his power and well aware of the human rights report of Saudi Aarabia, depicted the choice as a moral one. LIV players, many of them made much richer after they signed with the Saudis, framed their defects in softer terms around things such as playing schemes and tournament formats.
Everywhere Mr. Trump a cheerful cheerleader for the Tour supported by Saudi. In an interview from 2022 he wiped the concern about the human rights violations of the Saudi government and portrayed the swelling interest of the wealth fund in global sports as an authentic and decent investment.
“What they do with LIV is very important,” said Mr Trump, while they also criticize the PGA Tour approach to negotiate with the Saudis. “They put a lot of effort into it and a lot of money in it, as you can see.”
Months after those comments, in the midst of a lawsuit, the tour and the Wealth Fund started in June 2023 secret conversations and bewildered Golf with a surprise announcement of a ceasefire and the ambition to combine the business companies of the rival circuits.
Their agreement, however, came across one complication after the other, especially worries among anti -icing beads in Washington. During the term of office of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. have submitted the two parties to term sheets for an investment of $ 1.5 billion by the Saudis in the newly developed commercial arm of the PGA Tour.
But the Ministry of Justice did not complete its revision of the Saudi transaction before Mr. Trump took over last month. And Mr. Trump collapsed in the conversations when the tour and the power fund paths considered a transaction that could have been considered as non -starters among Mr Biden's antitrust enforcers.
It is not clear whether a deal that emerges will enable LIV to survive as an independent brand. The circuit has difficulty drawing public and income.
PGA Tour leaders have welcomed the role of Mr Trump in the negotiations that they said they had searched. Mr. Monahan said last week that the flagship circuit of the PGA Tour, which last played on a Trump building in 2016, could return to the family courses.
Maggie Haberman Reported report from Washington. Julie Tate contributed research.
