President Donald Trump says PGA Tour-PIF deal is 'much more complicated' than solving Russia-Ukraine war

President Donald Trump says PGA Tour-PIF deal is ‘much more complicated’ than solving Russia-Ukraine war

Posted by author February 26, 2025 Golf

Spread the love

Before he was re-elected, President Donald Trump said it would take him 15 minutes to reunify men’s professional golf.

After a month in office, and plenty of meetings with the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund officials, his tone has drastically changed.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trump was asked what was going to be more challenging, the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal or a Russia-Ukraine deal to stop the war in Eastern Europe.

“I think the PGA deal is much more complicated,” Trump said.

Last week, Trump met with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, player directors Tiger Woods and Adam Scott and LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the White House, with the sides talking for about 4 hours about reunification and the future of men’s professional golf.

The PGA Tour put out a statement after the meeting calling it a “constructive working session,” though ultimately it appears the sides are no closer to a deal than they were before meeting. Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reported Thursday’s meeting at the White House didn’t go as well as Tour executives had hoped.

Despite recent efforts from the PGA Tour and its players, like Woods and Rory McIlroy playing golf with the President in recent weeks, to have Trump assist them in getting a deal completed, his latest comments about the difficulty in getting to the finish line are a stark contrast of what he said earlier this year and even from the tone those on the PGA Tour has in recent weeks.