美国橄榄球联盟的亿万富翁、美国驻英国大使罗伯特·伍德“伍迪”约翰逊告诉同事，总统邀请他唐纳德·特朗普美国广播公司周三证实，如果他能说服英国政府在特朗普位于苏格兰特恩贝里的高尔夫球场和度假村举办著名且利润丰厚的英国公开赛。
英国锦标赛从未以1000英镑结束特朗普·特恩贝里。
约翰逊在英国的前副手卢·卢肯斯首先确认了一个账户据报告的《纽约时报》:他警告特朗普的盟友约翰逊，这样的努力将是不道德的利用总统职位谋取私利，但约翰逊还是继续前进，向苏格兰事务大臣大卫·蒙代尔提出了这个问题。
英国政府在一份声明中否认了这些说法，称“约翰逊没有就英国公开赛或其他体育赛事向蒙代尔提出任何要求。”
星期三下午，在白宫的一次简报会上，当被问及“请伍迪·约翰逊大使把英国公开赛带到你在苏格兰的特恩贝里酒店?”特朗普回答说:“不，我从没和伍迪·约翰逊谈过这件事，也没和他谈过特恩贝里。”正如你所知，特恩贝里是一门非常受尊敬的课程，是世界上最好的课程之一，今天我读了一个关于它的故事...我从来没有和伍迪·约翰逊谈过这件事，没有。”
2020年7月22日，DC，在白宫布雷迪新闻发布室，唐纳德·特朗普总统在新闻发布会上接受记者提问，询问他的政府对正在进行的全球冠状病毒大流行的反应。
特朗普在2017年提名纽约喷气机足球队的所有者约翰逊为大使。
卢肯斯说，他继续向同事们报告这一事件，但被立即撤职。
组织英国公开赛的《R&A》公司传讯部主任迈克·伍德库克在一份声明中告诉ABC新闻:“正如我对《纽约时报》所说的，我们没有收到任何关于此事的通知。”
美国广播公司还证实，美国驻英国大使馆目前正在接受监察长的调查，但调查范围尚不清楚。
2020年7月21日，美国驻英国大使罗伯特·伍德·约翰逊抵达唐宁街，参加美国国务卿迈克·庞贝和英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊的会谈。
同时，美国有线电视新闻网据报告的调查不仅包括对约翰逊和特朗普·特恩贝里的指控，还包括对约翰逊在担任大使期间发表一系列种族主义和性别歧视言论的投诉。
美国有线电视新闻网称，正在调查的投诉包括指控约翰逊在伦敦，大约在美国大使馆计划纪念黑人历史月的时候，“对黑人进行了种族主义的概括，并质疑黑人社区为什么庆祝黑人历史月。”...据一位消息人士透露，约翰逊显得很激动，他问观众是否会是“一群黑人。”
2018年7月13日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与美国驻英国大使伍迪·约翰逊(Woody Johnson)交谈，准备登上“海军一号”(Marine One)，离开美国驻英国大使官邸伦敦温菲尔德大厦(Winfield House)。
此外，美国有线电视新闻网援引消息人士的话说，约翰逊发表了性别歧视言论，并表现出性别歧视行为，包括指控他在伦敦一家男性专用俱乐部主持官方集会，经常在公共活动中评论女性的外貌，说他更喜欢与女性一起工作，因为她们比男性更便宜，工作更努力，并一度质疑他为什么必须参加“女权主义活动”
美国有线电视新闻网称，当被问及具体指控时，约翰逊没有否认。
但周三下午，他在推特上写道，“我一直遵守办公室的道德规范和要求。”这些对种族和性别不敏感的虚假言论，与我长期以来的记录和价值观完全不符。”
“约翰逊大使是光荣而专业地领导英国代表团的团队中的重要成员。我们袖手旁观大使约翰逊，并期待他继续确保我们与英国的特殊关系是强大的。”
美国广播公司(ABC News)周三向他的工作人员发布了一份声明，约翰逊在声明中写道，“我想与你们分享，作为美国大使，以及同样重要的是，领导美国驻英国使团中才华横溢、多元化的团队，我感到多么荣幸...请记住，我绝对致力于营造一个没有歧视、每个团队成员都能茁壮成长的工作场所。”
Trump denies he asked US ambassador, an ally, to get UK to help his Scotland golf course
Billionaire NFL owner and U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson told colleagues he was asked by PresidentDonald Trumpif he could persuade the U.K. government to hold the famed and lucrative British Open golf tournament at Trump's golf course and resort in Turnberry, Scotland, ABC News confirmed Wednesday.
The British tournament never ended up atTrump Turnberry.
Johnson's former deputy in the U.K., Lew Lukens, confirmed an account firstreportedin the New York Times: that he warned Johnson, a Trump ally, that such an endeavor would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, but that Johnson went ahead anyway, raising the issue with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell.
In a statement, the U.K. government denied those claims, saying "Mr. Johnson made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event.”
Asked at an afternoon White House briefing Wednesday when he had "asked Ambassador Woody Johnson to bring the British Open to your Turnberry property in Scotland?" Trump answered, "No, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about that, about Turnberry. Turnberry is a highly respected course, as you know, one of the best in the world, and I read a story about it today ... I never spoke to Woody Johnson about doing that, no."
Trump nominated Johnson, owner of the New York Jets football franchise, as ambassador in 2017.
Lukens, who said he went on to report the incident to colleagues, was summarily dismissed from his post.
Mike Woodcock, director of corporate communications for The R&A, which organizes the British Open, told ABC News in a statement: “As I said to the NY Times, we didn’t receive any approaches about this.”
ABC also confirmed there is a current inspector general investigation into the U.S. embassy in the U.K., although the scope of that investigation is unclear.
At the same time, CNNreportedthat the investigation spans not only the allegations about Johnson and Trump Turnberry, but also complaints that Johnson made a series of racist and sexist comments while ambassador.
CNN said the complaints being investigated included allegations Johnson in London, around the time U.S embassies were making plans to mark Black History Month, "made racist generalizations about Black men and questioned why the Black community celebrates Black History Month," adding... "Johnson appeared agitated and asked if the audience would be "a whole bunch of Black people," according to one source.
In addition, CNN cited sources as saying Johnson made sexist remarks and exhibited sexist behavior, including accusations he hosted official gatherings at a men-only club in London, regularly commented on the appearance of women during public events, said he preferred to work with women because they are cheaper and work harder than men, and once questioned why he had to participate in "a feminist event."
CNN said, when asked about the specific allegations, Johnson did not deny them.
But Wednesday afternoon, he tweeted, "I have followed the ethical rules and requirements of my office at all times. These false claims of insensitive remarks about race and gender are totally inconsistent with my longstanding record and values."
“Ambassador Johnson is a valued member of the team who has led Mission UK honorably and professionally. We stand by Ambassador Johnson and look forward to him continuing to ensure our special relationship with the UK is strong,” a State Deparment spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
In a statement to his staff Wednesday, obtained by ABC News, Johnson wrote in part, "I wanted to share with you what an honor it is for me to serve as U.S. Ambassador and, every bit as importantly, to lead the talented, diverse team at the U.S. Mission to the UK... Please know that I am absolutely committed to a workplace free of discrimination and in which each team member can thrive."
