Trump Denies Talking to Ambassador About Moving British Open to His Resort

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he never spoke with his ambassador to Britain about asking the British government if it could help steer the world-famous British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland.

The ambassador, Robert Wood Johnson IV, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that he had been asked to see if he could arrange for the tournament to be played at Mr. Trump’s property and was warned not to do so by his deputy because it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try anyway, and a few weeks later he raised the idea of Turnberry hosting the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, The Times reported. The episode left several American diplomats unsettled, and the ambassador’s deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, sent emails describing what had happened to State Department colleagues. Mr. Johnson later forced out Mr. Lukens.

Asked about the report at a coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Trump denied speaking with Mr. Johnson on the matter, although he managed to promote his Scotland golf course at the same time.