Trump's Saudi-Backed Golf Tournament Begins in N.J. amid Protests from Families of 9/11 Victims

Donald Trump is hitting the links and stirring up controversy.

The former president defended hosting the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament at his course in Bedminster, N.J., on Thursday amid protests from families of people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"This golf tournament is taking place 50 miles from Ground Zero," a man says in a 30-second ad released this week by the group 9/11 Justice. The spot accuses golfers of taking "blood money" and urges viewers to call Bedminster "to tell them it's wrong" to host an event with LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, whose chair is the country's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, CNN reports.

The fund is providing $250 million in total prize money, according to CNN.

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Organizers, players and Trump himself have been criticized for accepting money from Saudi Arabia through the golf series, given its record on human rights. A U.S. intelligence report alleged the Crown Prince was responsible for approving a plan that led to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, though bin Salman has denied being involved.

Loved ones of those who died on the 9/11 terrorist attack planned to protest at Bedminster on Friday, according to reports. They're pointing to declassified documents they believe indicate Saudi support of those involved in the terrorist attack that killed 2,996 people.

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The document details the hijackers' contacts with Saudis in the U.S. but does not provide evidence that senior Saudi government officials were complicit in the attacks, according to a Sept. 2021 NBC News report.

Of the 19 hijackers who conducted the attack, 15 were Saudi nationals. The men commandeered four U.S. flights and used the passenger jets as missiles aimed at two towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and at the Pentagon in Virginia. A fourth flight that was heading toward Washington but crashed into a field in Shanksville, Penn.

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James Devaney/GC Images Donald Trump

The 9/11 Commission report, released in 2004, found no evidence of Saudi leaders' complicity in the attack but said Saudi nationals played key roles in funding Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization that claimed responsibility.

The Saudi government denies any role in the attacks.

"We, as 9/11 families, are not going away," Matthew Bocchi, who lost his father on 9/11, told CBS News.

"As far as President Trump holding a tournament right down the road in our backyard, you know we're very disappointed in him. We don't like it. He should know better," Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, said in the CBS News report. "But he's really not the issue. He's not president any longer. He's a nobody, in my opinion, for the way he's treating us."

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Trump spoke Thursday about his decision to host LIV Gold at his property.

"I've known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia, and they've been friends of mine for a long time," Trump said in an interview with ESPN. "They've invested in many American companies, they own big percentages of 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."

ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Former President Donald Trump walks as he plays a round of golf on the Ailsa course at Trump Turnberry, his luxury golf resort in Turnberry, southwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on July 14, 2018.

Asked what he would say to the families that are protesting, he said, "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 the world. So nobody's really been there. But I can tell you that there are a lot of really great people that are out here today and we're going to have a lot of fun and we're going to celebrate."

In comments to CBS News, Bocchi said, "We've had every president since 9/11 evade holding the Kingdom responsible for their role in the attacks on September 11th, and we believe they need to be held accountable for murdering our loved ones and injuring countless others."

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Responding to Trump's statement, Strada told CNN the former president "knows full well it was the [Saudi] Kingdom. He did everything in his power to protect the Kingdom while in office by reneging on a promise he made to 9/11 families he would declassify FBI reports [regarding] Saudis involvement in 9/11."

Strada said Trump isn't the only person she's upset with. "We have a president that's sitting in the White House right now that we're going to demand he gives us answers," she told CBS News, which notes that 9/11 Families United is requesting to meet with President Joe Biden and called on golfers participating in the LIV Golf tournaments to take a stand.

"These families have our deepest sympathy," LIV Golf said in a statement, according to the report. "While some may not agree, we believe golf is a force for good around the world."