A group of MPs, led by Patrick Harvie, a co-leader of the Scottish Green Party, has called for a parliamentary vote to apply an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) to the two golf courses owned by the Trump Organization in Scotland.
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Trump’s Scottish adventure begun in 2006 and has never been profitable. His two golf courses, Trump International and Trump Turnberry, have been losing several million dollars every year. His first purchase was an old hunting estate along the northeastern Scottish coast. The Scottish government was supportive in the beginning, with promises of local economic benefits and thousands of jobs, but that relationship turned sour too, to the point of seeing Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Surgeon, declare that Trump will face ‘due accountability’ in Scotland.
Turnberry, due to its historic connections to the Open Championship, has faired better than Trump International, but it’s still not profitable. The total loss, over eight years, for the two courses amounts to $75 million. For the year 2019, the Trump Organization has reported financial losses totalling $4.6 million. Both Turnberry and Turmp International filed financial disclosures for 2019 at the end of December. Turnberry’s loss for the year was $3.4m, and Ttrump International was $1.5m, the filings say. These figures still do not include the damages caused by the pandemic, which will be reported in next year’s accounts. Eric Trump commented in the filings that the virus had caused ‘significant uncertainty in the economy and hospitality sector’.
The object of a possible UWO investigation, though, are not related to operational financial losses. The part raising suspicions the reported $200 million that Trump spent in purchasing, developing, and funding the two courses. Where did the money come from? And where was Trump planning to get a further $200 million to build a second course at Trump International and add a small village of properties?
The New York Times has published several articles on Trump’s financial adventures and speculating about his 20-year relationship with Deutsche Bank, his leading financial supporter. The Scottish parliament might now take it a step further and start digging into so far undisclosed aspects of the Trump Organization operations in Scotland.