U.S. ambassador told others Trump asked him to try to get British Open moved to his golf course

The U.S. ambassador in London told associates in February 2018 that he had been asked by President Donald Trump to see if he could arrange for the British Open golf tournament to be held at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, according to a person familiar with the matter.

After returning from a trip to Washington, Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson told a top diplomat on two occasions that Trump had made the request, the person familiar with the matter said.

The deputy chief of mission, Lewis Lukens, strongly advised against approaching British authorities on the matter, arguing that it would be unethical.

Johnson mentioned Trump’s interest in hosting the tournament during a meeting with David Mundell, the secretary of state for Scotland, though the ambassador’s comments may have stopped short of an official request, according to U.S. Embassy personnel at the time.

Trump at a press conference Wednesday said that he “never spoke to Woody Johnson about that, about Turnberry” but noted that the golf course there is ”one of the best in the world.”

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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