Donald Trump has spent much of the past two decades saying deeply unfortunate things about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As regular readers may recall, the Republican claimed, for example, that he had “tried to help” at Ground Zero in New York on the day of the attacks, but there is no evidence of such efforts. In fact, on 9/11, the future president seemed mostly focused on how the destruction of the Twin Towers affected his ability to brag about the height of one of his neighboring properties.
Fifteen years later, in the first presidential campaign, Trump frequently referenced the September 11 attacks, although, as the Washington Post reported at the time, “[S]Several of Trump’s statements about what he witnessed that day appear to be greatly exaggerated or untrue.
In 2019, the then-president made remarks at the White House claiming he predicted bin Laden’s rise in a book and insinuating that 9/11 could have been avoided if only more people “had listened. “Trump – the rhetoric was both blatantly false and blatantly obscene – and in 2021 he downplayed Osama bin Laden.
This week, the Republican has made things a bit worse. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday defended hosting a Saudi-funded tournament at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, casting doubt on any link between Saudi Arabia and the attacks September 11 terrorists. Asked to respond to harsh criticism from families of 9/11 victims who are urging Americans to protest the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament, Trump suggested there was still uncertainty surrounding the attacks.
“Well, no one got to the bottom of the events of 9/11, unfortunately, and they should have,” Trump told ESPN.
For those who may not be familiar with this controversy, let’s briefly recap how we got here.
In the United States, the PGA Tour is the dominant player in professional golf, but now faces competition from a Saudi-backed league called LIV. As you can imagine, this shook up the sport, especially as some top players left the PGA to join its new rival.
This all took on a political dimension when Trump not only encouraged professional golfers to drop the PGA and join the Saudi-backed company, but the Republican also said his Bedminster, NJ, site would host an upcoming LIV tournament.
The families of those killed on September 11 were not satisfied.
“We just cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Golf League to hold their tournament on your golf course, and do it in the shadow of Ground Zero in New Jersey, which lost over 700 residents in the attacks,” members of the 9/11 Justice group wrote in a July 17 letter.
Criticism intensified in the days that followed, leading Trump to finally address the issue yesterday. It was in this context that the former president said, “Well, nobody got to the bottom of the events of 9/11, unfortunately, and they should have.”
Looking back, there are a few angles to a story like this to keep in mind. The first concerns the Republican’s petty motives: Trump’s Bedminster venue was supposed to host a lucrative PGA event, but the arrangement was scrapped following the Jan. 6 attack.
Trump, true to form, is now seeking revenge, and the rival league offers him the opportunity to punish his perceived enemies.
Second, there is also the fact that Trump, who made his first foreign trip as president to Riyadh, made little effort to hide his Saudi support, including bragging to Bob Woodward for ‘saving’ Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from scrutiny after Jamal. Khashoggi’s murder. “I saved the day for him,” added the former president. “I managed to convince Congress to leave him alone. I managed to get them to stop. »
And third, Trump apparently wants the money.
“I don’t know much about the 9/11 families,” the Republican told the Wall Street Journal this week. Maybe not, but they apparently learn a lot about him.