Donald Trump just took another hit
Trump's office announced Tuesday that he and the PGA of America agreed not to conduct the upcoming Grand Slam of Golf at the Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles. The tournament pits the winners of the year's four major golf championships against one another.
The Republican candidate's statement said that the decision was due to the ongoing controversy over his harsh rhetoric against illegal immigration.
"Due to the controversy surrounding statements made by Mr. Trump having to do with illegal immigrants pouring into the United States from Mexico and other parts of the world, Mr. Trump does not want his friends at the PGA of America to suffer any consequences or backlash with respect to the Grand Slam of Golf," Trump's office said.
Trump himself added that he now will have time to improve his California golf course.
"I have great respect for the PGA of America and everything they stand for," he said. "This also allows me the time to rebuild the golf course in Los Angeles, fronting the Pacific Ocean and considered to be one of the finest parcels of land anywhere in the United States, into the course I always wanted it to be."
The announcement came a day after ESPN said it would move a charity golf tournament off one of Trump's courses amid the backlash.
This time, Trump's reaction was far less aggressive than how he responded to some of the other businesses that cut ties with him after he accused the Mexican government of sending "rapists" and drug runners to the US.
When Univision and NBC dropped one of Trump's beauty pageants, he mocked NBC for being "weak" and said he would sue Univision for $500 million. When Macy's said it would no longer carry its Trump-branded products, he urged his fans to boycott the department store.
"Fortunately it doesn't have any impact on me because it's not big stuff, monetarily," Trump reflected last week. "But I will tell you something: People, they're just not able to handle the pressure."