Donald Trump tried to interfere with The Open, claims report
Trump wanted to move The Open to Turnberry, claims New York Times report...
Donald Trump reportedly asked his American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, to see if the British government could help steer The Open to his Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland back in 2018, according to a report in the New York Times.
The report claims that Johnson's deputy Lewis A Lukens advised against such plans, warning it would be an "unethical use of the presidency for private gain."
The R&A had overuled Trump Turnberry as host venue of The Open ever since Trump became US President, according to multiple reports.
In 2018, R&A's chief executive Martin Slumbers said: "We have criteria for which courses we want to go to, and part of that is macroeconomics. Clearly part of that macroeconomics is about politics."
But none of that stopped Trump trying his best to bring The Open to his Turnberry, according to three people with knowledge of the matter back in February 2018.
"Mr Johnson apparently felt pressured to try," reads the New York Times report. "A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to The Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell."
In an interview with Mr Mundell recently, he said it was "inappropriate" to discuss such dealings with Mr Johnson.
Trump Turnberry is currently not on The Open rota for future tournaments, but whether that changes in the future remains open for debate.
The White House declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s instructions to Mr. Johnson, as did the ambassador and the State Department.
