EXCLUSIVE — Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, is rejecting former President Donald Trump’s claims that he doesn’t know what family members of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “are saying” about the LIV Golf tournament.
Eagleson recounted a recent call he had with an aide of Trump in which he was assured that the former president had read the group’s letter outlining its gripes with LIV and that Trump was “personally going to remember every one of the names found in the letter.”
TRUMP DOWNPLAYS LIV UPROAR: ‘I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE 9/11 FAMILIES’
“In that letter, we laid out all of our reasons why we are upset. We laid out all the evidence that we have against the kingdom,” Eagleson told the Washington Examiner. “The aide confirmed to me that the president personally read our letter and that he’s personally going to remember every one of the names found in the letter and he was very glad that we wrote him that letter.”
Trump had told the Wall Street Journal that he was not privy to many of the grievances from family members of the 9/11 victims who have been railing against his hosting of LIV at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster this weekend.
“I don’t know much about the 9/11 families, I don’t know what is the relationship to this and their very strong feelings, and I can understand their feelings,” Trump said. “I can’t really comment on that because I don’t know exactly what they’re saying and what they’re saying, who did what.”
The group, 9/11 Justice, which advocates on behalf of families of the terror attack victims, sent the letter to Trump as part of its efforts to nix the event. When pressed about whether Trump had been lying or the aide had exaggerated accounts of the president reading the letter, Eagleson noted that the aide never deviated from her talking points during the call.
“For him to journal that he wasn’t aware of our issues — why we are frustrated — that’s just categorically false,” Eagleson added. “I only know what I was told by the aide that the former president personally instructed her to call me. He said that 9/11 is very near and dear to him. He was happy that we took the time to write him the letter and that he’s never going to forget us writing him a letter. And he personally read the letter.”
Relatives of the victims have condemned LIV for taking money from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund due to the oil-rich nation’s alleged ties to the attacks. They have implored Trump to pull the plug on the event at his golf resort and urged prominent golfers to shun the event. Roughly half of the victims’ families are Trump supporters, Eagleson estimated, adding many felt betrayed by his actions with LIV.
“Half of our communities are some of the biggest Trump supporters — if you look to the FDNY for NYPD families — a lot of these, they’re very, very pro-Trump,” Eagleson explained. “He’s losing a lot of bipartisan support, mainstream Republican support, for choosing to do business with the kingdom.”
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Trump has shown no signs of relenting and is slated to host the LIV event at his New Jersey golf resort beginning Friday. He is also scheduled to host a second LIV event at Trump National Doral in Miami in October.
