WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump, whose family has major business interests in the Gulf countries he is visiting this week, said there was no talk of building a Trump Tower in Syria or golf during his meetings in Saudi Arabia that ended on Wednesday.
Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his first stop in Riyadh on May 13 and 14 before heading to Qatar.
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The president made a surprise announcement on that the U.S. will remove longstanding sanctions on Syria. But he said May 14 the possibility of developing a Trump Tower in Damascus, which a Trump supporter has said Sharaa wants, did not come up during their meeting.
“We’ll have to wait a little while until things calm down,” he said, according to a pool report.
More: Trump’s personal diplomacy and family business intersect in Gulf tour
Golf and crypto
Trump also said he did not know how the deal for a firm backed by the Abu Dhabi government to use the Trump family company’s digital coins for a $2 billion investment in a crypto exchange came about.
“I really don’t know anything about it, but I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Qatar. He was scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Asked if PGA or LIV golf came up in his meetings with bin Salman, Trump told reporters, “No.”
Trump, whose company owns a number of golf courses, has tried to broker a deal between the warring PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf.
More: How much money did Trump make in first 100 days?
Trump’s family has forged multi-billion dollar business deals in the Gulf, moves that Democrats and other critics say could open pathways to improperly influence the president.
Qatar is considering giving Trump a $400 million plane, raising constitutional questions and ethical concerns even from some fellow Republicans.
The White House has said there is no conflict and that the president is acting in the interests of the American public and not his own. The Trump Organization has said Trump’s adult children manage his assets.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says no golf, real estate talk in Saudi meetings
