The former president — wearing a suit and shirt without his signature red tie — was spotted in the crowd at Midtown’s Gotham Hall watching rapper Nelly perform, shaking hands with Caitlyn Jenner and smiling alongside his wife Melania Trump .
Trump joined the festivities despite having a scheduled round of golf Thursday with professional golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson in the pro-am ahead of the first round of this week’s LIV Golf Invitational at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Johnson and his wife Paulina Gretzky, as well as LIV Golf Investments CEO Greg Norman, a retired golfer nicknamed “The Shark,” also appeared at Wednesday night’s shindig.
Former First Lady Melania Trump joined her husband at the star-studded event.via Getty Images
LIV Golf has been embroiled in controversy over its involvement with the Saudi Arabian government amid reports of human rights abuses in the country. The company that runs the tour — which entered the world of professional golf as an alternative to the US-based PGA Tour — is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Funds.
Critics have accused Saudi Arabia of “washing” its human rights atrocities through its involvement with LIV golf and other sports.
Families of 9/11 victims have also dropped the track — especially since the tournament will be held less than 50 miles from where the twin towers once stood.
Greg Norman, CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf, welcomed Trump to the event. via Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump talks with team captain Dustin Johnson during the welcome party for the LIV Golf Invitational. via Getty Images
Fifteen of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, and the FBI released hundreds of pages of newly declassified documents last year probing the link between the Saudi government and the terrorist attacks.
But Trump has dismissed human rights concerns about Saudi Arabia in recent days, while also blasting the PGA Tour, which has suspended players who compete at LIV Golf from its tournaments.
“All those golfers who remain ‘faithful’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all its various guises, will pay a heavy price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes,” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social.
The winner of this week’s LIV Golf Invitational Series will be awarded $4 million of a $25 million purse.
With Post cables
