For Donald Trump, the PGA Tour’s announcement that they’re relocating an event from his Trump National Doral Miami resort to Mexico City next year is a sign of “what’s going on with our country.”
Cadillac declined to renew its sponsorship of the World Golf Championship, which has been held at the Doral site since 1962, prompting the relocation, ESPN reported Wednesday.
“Cadillac’s been a great sponsor, but they’re moving it to Mexico,” Trump said in a Tuesday night interview on Fox News. “They’re moving it to Mexico City which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance.”
“They’re moving it to Mexico City,” he continued. “And I’m saying, you know, what’s going on here? It is so sad when you look at what’s going on with our country.”
The Trump organization acquired the property in 2012. According to ESPN, the PGA in 2013 announced a 10-year contract extension to hold the event at Doral, but since the deal was contingent on sponsorship, it was invalidated once Cadillac pulled out.
Event chairman Butch Buchholz told the Miami Herald that the PGA organizers were reluctant to leave the Doral site.
“I believe they are sincere when they said they didn’t want to leave an event with a 54-year history,” Buchholz said. “They’ve got an obligation to their board and they couldn’t find a sponsor, so they had to move. They don’t have a choice. [The PGA Tour] didn’t have a choice. If you don’t have a sponsor what can you do?”
