At various instances, Mr. Trump approached the reporters and volunteers following him to make brief remarks and answer questions. (There were no fans for the pro-am round.) At one point, he talked up Trump Doral, his course that will host a second LIV event later this year. When asked how much he has been paid to do business with LIV, he noted it is “very generous” but added: “I don’t do it for that.”…

Mr. Trump, whose first official overseas trip as president took him to Saudi Arabia, and his family have also maintained close business ties to the kingdom since he exited office. In addition to Trump courses hosting two LIV events this season, his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private-equity fund has received $2 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is the same entity financing LIV…

And while various critics, including lawmakers, have accused Saudi Arabia of using golf’s popularity to whitewash its global reputation, Mr. Trump said he believes LIV has been “great” for the country’s image.

“I think it’s going to be an incredible investment from that standpoint, and that’s more valuable than lots of other things because you can’t buy that—even with billions of dollars,” Mr. Trump told The Journal.