Former President Donald Trump's company is angling to host events at his golf courses for the controversial Saudi golf league, according to three people familiar with the matter, potentially handing Trump a lucrative business partnership with a regime he defended as president.
At least two of Trump's courses -- in Bedminster, N.J., and Doral, Fla. -- could be named as sites for the nascent tour, according to the people familiar with the talks, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials from LIV Golf Investments, the group funded by the Saudis to host the tour, have held conversations with the Trump Organization, these people said.
One of the people said Trump had spoken to Greg Norman, the head of LIV Golf, about having his properties involved in the tour.
A spokeswoman for the investments group declined to comment. Eric Trump, the former president's son, and a Trump Organization spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. The Saudi embassy in Washington also did not respond.
Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Trump's political action committee, offered a statement touting the former president's golf courses when asked about the talks.
"It certainly sounds possible given the fact that President Trump owns some of the most beautiful and renowned golf courses in the world -- from the cliffs of Rancho Palos Verdes, to the majestic rolling hills of Bedminster and, of course, the iconic Doral property," he said.
The financial terms of the proposed deal are unclear, but the events would undoubtedly provide revenue for Trump through the Saudis, who are making a bid to recruit PGA Tour players and launch a series of golf tournaments.
As president, Trump frequently defended the Saudi government even amid a wide range of human right abuses, including the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the imprisonment and execution of gay citizens. Trump's first overseas trip as president was to Saudi Arabia, and he regularly praised the country's wealth and power, even as some advisers pushed him to take a tougher line on the country.
Such a deal would also provide a measure of revenge for Trump against the PGA Tour, which he courted for years but that later angered him when politics came between them.
While Trump campaigned in the summer of 2016, the PGA Tour announced it was yanking its World Golf Championship from Doral and moving it to Mexico City. Trump also lost the PGA championship from his course in New Jersey last year, as the organization pulled its event days after the Jan. 6 insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol.
Doral has been the biggest revenue generator of any of Trump's golf properties, but he borrowed heavily to acquire and renovate it, and the 643-room resort suffered financially during his presidency.
His company has been trying to revive Doral since his presidency ended. Last year Florida legislators passed legislation easing the path for the company to pursue a casino license for Doral, and last month it announced it would attempt to build 2,300 homes there.
Information for this article was contributed by Alice Crites of The Washington Post.
President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin in the Oval Office in March 2017. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford