Trump Met PGA Commissioner About Saudi Golf Tour Deal

President Trump met this week with the PGA Tour commissioner, the tour said on Thursday, as the Justice Department considers whether to approve a venture between the United States’ premier golf circuit and one backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The meeting at the White House on Tuesday was an unusual foray for an American president into global sports diplomacy but squared with his decades-long ambitions to act as a sports power broker. It was also the latest expression of his closeness to LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed tour.

In addition to the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, Mr. Trump hosted Adam Scott, who won the Masters Tournament in 2013 and sits on the PGA Tour’s board.

During the Oval Office meeting, Mr. Trump also spoke by telephone with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Saudi wealth fund’s governor and one of the most influential figures in Saudi Arabia, according to two people familiar with the session who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talks.

“We asked the president to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country and for all the countries involved,” Mr. Monahan, Mr. Scott and Tiger Woods said in a joint statement on Thursday afternoon after The New York Times asked on Wednesday night about the meeting. “We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.”

Mr. Woods, the most celebrated player of his generation and another member of the tour’s board, had been scheduled to attend but did not participate because of the death of his mother, according to one of the people briefed on the meeting.