'The tip of the iceberg'... - Major Donald Trump concern raised after latest LIV Golf event

Critics have raised concerns about Donald Trump's presidency following the LIV Golf event at his course in Virginia.

From May 7–10, LIV Golf held their latest event at the Trump National Golf Club Championship Course in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

For several years Trump's golf courses have been used by the Saudi-backed league to hold events featuring some of the biggest names in golf.

Australia's Lucas Herbert won this year's event finishing ahead of Sergio García and Bryson DeChambeau with an impressive score of 24 under-par.

The event comes just weeks after it was revealed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed that it will end its funding of LIV Golf at the end of the current season, raising questions about the league's future.

However, the potential collapse of LIV Golf isn't the main talking point coming out of the event, as experts are raising conflict-of-interest and ethical concerns about Trump's financial benefits of hosting events backed by a foreign government accused of human rights abuses.

Ever since LIV Golf was first announced in 2021, critics have accused the league of “sportswashing”, meaning the Saudi Arabian government were aiming to use the league to divert attention from several human rights concerns.

Of course, LIV Golf isn't the only sporting venture that the Saudi Arabian PIF is involved in, as the fund is heavily involved in Formula One, combat sports, tennis and, most notably football, through the creation of the Saudi Pro League and acquisition of Newcastle United in 2021.

But, given Trump's role as one of the most influential figures in global politics, his decision to allow LIV Golf to hold events at several of his golf courses across America has certainly caused concerns.

“Saudi Arabia is a murderous, authoritarian, anti-democratic regime,” Kathleen Clark, a law professor in government ethics at Washington University, told CNN.

“(Trump’s) willingness to do this is actually a really nice example about what his priorities are.”

During his two terms as President of the United States, Trump has met with officials from the Saudi Arabian government on several occasions.

Last year, as he hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, Trump completely shut down a journalist's question about the death of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Trump claimed that the journalist was "extremely controversial” and had asked the question to embarrass the Saudi Crown Prince, while downplaying his involvement in Khashoggi's death, despite the fact that the CIA assessed that he had likely ordered the murder of the journalist.

“This is just going to be the tip of the iceberg,” Richard Painter, a professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota Law School, told CNN.

“And the message has been said all over the world that if you want to get along with the Trump administration, do business with the Trump family or with his golf courses or with his son.”

Following Khashoggi's death Saudi Arabian officials have repeatedly denied accusations of any involvement, prompting the Saudi Foreign Ministry to release a statement in 2021.

It stated that the country “completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom’s leadership, and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions.”