Trump and Kushner working a new golf deal with Saudis — while no one is looking: report

Many critics of President Donald Trump accuse him of using the presidency to promote his business interests — a claim that Trump and his allies vehemently deny, insisting that Trump maintains a strict separation between the White House and the Trump Organization. President Trump's defenders maintain that he is careful to distance himself from the Trump Organization, now being run by his son, Eric Trump.

But Mohamad Bazzi, a journalism professor at New York University and former Middle East bureau chief for Newsday, argues that a proposed deal between two rival golf tournaments — PGA Tour in the United States and the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf — is a "potential conflict of interest" for the U.S. president.

Bazzi, in an op-ed published by The Guardian on February 28, argues, "If concluded, the deal would directly benefit Trump's family business, which owns and manages golf courses around the world. And it would be the latest example of Trump using the presidency to advance his personal interests.

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Bazzi notes that on February 20 at the White House, Trump hosted a meeting between PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan. The LIV head, Bazzi adds, also manages Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

"A day before his latest attempt at high-level golf diplomacy," Bazzi observes, "Trump travelled to Miami to speak at a conference organized by the Saudi Public Investment Fund — which is managed by Al-Rumayyan but ultimately controlled by the kingdom's de facto ruler and crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Trump's sports diplomacy in the Oval Office and cozying up to Saudi investors in Miami did not get much attention compared with his whirlwind of executive orders and new policies. But these incidents encapsulate Trump's transactional and corrupt approach to governing — and the ways that wealthy autocrats, including Prince Mohammed, will be able to exploit the U.S. president."

The NYU journalism professor points out that in December, the Trump Organization "announced several real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, including a Trump Tower in the capital, Riyadh, and another $530m residential tower in the city of Jeddah."

"Today, the president is trying to reap more benefits based on his protection of Prince Mohammed — beyond what Kushner and the Trump Organization have already amassed from Saudi investments during Trump's time out of office," Bazzi argues. "Trump is corrupting the presidency by using it to negotiate international golf agreements and other deals that will ultimately enrich his family — and hardly anyone is objecting."

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Mohamad Bazzi's full op-ed for The Guardian is available at this link.