Donald Trump’s golf courses in Scotland are suffering serious losses. In fact, those financial losses have doubled over the course of a mere year. You might remember that his presence at his golf courses prior to the election were controversial due to his unpopular views on, well, pretty much anything. Despite the tourism boost that these courses have supposedly given parts of Scotland, they’re losing millions of dollars per year.
All told, Turnberry lost $23 million during 2016. Revenues fell 21 percent. Trump International Golf Links, outside of Aberdeen, saw a loss of $1.4 million and revenue fell 12 percent. The Trump Organization blames these losses partly on having to shut Turnberry down for awhile for renovations and on the fluctuating value of the British pound, as well as on winter weather that damaged the property, the falling price of oil, and northern Scotland’s economy.
The man is pouring cash into both courses to try and prop them up. Thus far, he’s spent over $53 million to shore up these two courses, and there’s probably more money to come.
In the meantime, Trump is busy taking an unscheduled trip to his golf course in Virginia. These trips have cost the Secret Service $137,000 just to rent golf carts. On Sept. 29, they spent $61,000 for golf carts at Trump International Golf Club in Florida. Federal law prohibits Trump from providing or paying for any of the equipment the Secret Service uses at his properties, meaning the federal government picks up the tab. That’s supposed to prevent conflicts of interest for the Secret Service, but it’s a huge conflict of interest for Trump.
His trips just to Mar-a-Lago have reportedly cost $32 million. Congress approved $13 million in additional overtime for Secret Service protection, and another $61 million in reimbursement costs to the Palm Beach and Bedminster police departments, whose budgets broke under Trump’s visits. All that money flows into Trump’s coffers, and we have no idea how much money stays in the company and how much goes into Trump’s own pockets. Supposedly, his businesses are in “blind trusts,” but he retains ownership and financial interests, and (at least as recently as April) he can withdraw money from the company’s profits or assets whenever he wants, without ever having to disclose it.
Even if it does stay entirely in the company, it’s still tax dollars going into his company and it’s still company dollars propping up his golf courses. The only way we’re not on the hook for this in some way is if he’s using his personal bank account to do it, and is not putting any money from his businesses into that account. That seems highly unlikely.
And let’s keep in mind that this is happening while several of his administration officials find themselves under fire for using taxpayer dollars to pay for luxurious flights on private jets.
So what’s happening in Scotland? Locals vehemently opposed the Aberdeen location because Trump didn’t give a damn about the fact that he was trying to put the course on some of Scotland’s famous (and delicate) sand dunes. He also fought with the government for years over the off-shore wind farm that he thinks spoils the view from his course.
Then there’s his treatment of the Charlottesville riot – SumofUs, a global watchdog group fighting against expanding the golf courses on the grounds that his hate has “bolstered white supremacists” all over the world, said rejecting plans for the newest course is a chance to both reject Trump’s hatred and protect the environment at the same time.
His politics also cost him the chance to host the Scottish Open, with one of their biggest sponsors saying, “Politics aside, Trump would be an ideal venue – but you can’t put politics aside.” When asked to clarify that remark, he simply said, “It’s pretty kind of obvious, right?” Well duh. It’s hard for anyone with any sense to want to be associated with Trump. Trump is a blight on their names.
So is the money Trump is putting into these courses at least partly coming from us, the taxpayers? It’s hard to say - Trump has never been forthcoming with his finances. But seeing as how he’s using his office to line his pockets, it’s a decent bet that we’re footing the bill to prop up his struggling Scottish golf clubs.
Featured image via Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
