Trump says ‘nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11′ as he shills for Saudi golf tour

Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 9/11 terror attacks remain a mystery on Thursday as he deflected criticism from families of the victims about his partnership with a controversial Saudi-backed golf tour.

Promoting the upstart Saudi-backed tournament at his New Jersey golf resort, Trump parroted conspiracy theories that assert there are significant unanswered questions about one of the worst-ever terror attacks on American soil.

“Nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately,” Trump told ESPN. “And they should have, as to the maniacs who did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world.”

“So nobody’s really been there,” Trump added.

Trump was seeking to dodge questions about the protests 9/11 families have launched over his move to host the Saudi-backed LIV tournament at his club in Bedminster, N.J.

[ 9/11 families protest Trump embrace of Saudi golf tour ]

Without responding to the still-grieving relatives, Trump quickly sought to shift the interview onto safer ground.

“There’s a lot of really great people here, and we’re going to have a lot of fun,” he said.

Trump hit some balls with the personal banker of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ordered the torture killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and joked around with pro golfers and celebrity participants.

The tournament attracted former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor and retired basketball superstar Charles Barkley.

Trump also took some shots at the Professional Golfers Association, which is fighting off the challenge from the new Saudi tour.

Trump claimed those players who are sticking with the PGA Tour are being played for suckers, predicting the mainstream tour will eventually cut a deal with the Saudis.

“There’s many of the best players in the world and soon you’ll have all of the best players in the world,” Trump said.

Contrary to Trump’s outlandish claims, the main facts about 9/11 are widely accepted by history.

[ Remembering the September 11th terrorist attacks ]

A group of 19 terrorists, including 15 Saudi citizens, carried out the coordinated hijackings of four planes on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

They intentionally crashed two of them into the Twin Towers and one into the Pentagon. The fourth jet crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

The bipartisan commission set up to investigate the attacks primarily blamed Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda for planning and carrying out the attack, although it said the group had support from Saudi Arabia.

Congressional candidate Max Rose used Trump’s comments as a jumping-off point to criticize both the former president and one of his supporters, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who he’s facing in this November’s general election and who has also criticized the Saudis.

“Sucking up to Saudi Arabia is a slap in the face to our nation’s ideals, especially when so much remains unknown about their involvement in supporting the 9/11 hijackers,” Rose said. “This shouldn’t be a partisan issue; if Nicole Malliotakis can’t stand up to Donald Trump for 9/11 families then she doesn’t belong in office.”

With Michael Gartland