Donald Trump’s troubled Scottish golf course claimed more than $ 4 million in UK government assistance during the pandemic

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Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resorts have claimed millions of pandemic support from the UK government. Both Trump Turnberry and Trump International Scotland recorded losses in the millions in 2020.

Former President Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resorts have claimed more than $ 4 million in UK emergency money as struggling businesses laid off hundreds of staff members amid the COVID-19 pandemic .

The company’s newly published accounts for the two international resorts revealed that Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire and Trump International Scotland near Aberdeenshire cut 273 jobs in 2020, while also claiming $ 3.7 million in support. furlough.

Trump left control of both resorts to his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, shortly before he was inaugurated as president in 2017 but retained a financial interest in the businesses, both of which are owned by holding company Golf Recreation Scotland, Ltd.

Additional government data analyzed by The Guardian shows that the two resorts have made additional financial claims this year as the UK government’s emergency job retention scheme continues.

The BBC was the first to report additional claims of the resorts in 2021, reported to be worth between $ 698,000 and $ 1.7 million, adding to the total between $ 4.4 million and $ 5.5 million in furlough support over two years. . The new numbers were not included in the latest accounts of Trump companies, according to The Guardian.

Trump Turnberry recorded a loss of more than $ 4 million in 2020 while the Aberdeenshire resort reported a loss of $ 1.7 million. The filings for both resorts cited government lockouts, which require businesses to close for several months in 2020 and until 2021, as the reason for huge staff losses.

However, in accounts filed by Golf Recreation Scotland Ltd. and signed by director Eric Trump, he also cited Brexit as a factor in the resorts ’financial collapse, according to The Independent.

“Brexit has also affected our business as supply chains have been impacted by the availability of drivers and staff, reducing deliveries and the availability of certain product lines,” The Independent reported.

Documents continue to claim increased prices due to freight and import duty charges following the Brexit vote, as well as a reduction in staff availability due to wage inflation, have negatively affected resorts. .

During his presidential campaign and in his presidency, Trump was a vocal supporter of Brexit, which saw the United Kingdom leave the European Union in 2016. The former president called himself “Mr. Brexit ”in a tweet in 2016 and celebrated the Brits, who he said“ took back their country ”in an appearance at Turnberry in 2016.

The company’s accounts, filed earlier this month, also suggested that both golf resorts owed additional money to Trump himself in loans from the former president’s personal funds and the holding company in Turnberry and Trump International Scotland, with a total of more than $ 158 million, according to The Guardian.

A representative for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to the Insider’s request for comment, nor a spokesman at Trump Turnberry or Trump International Scotland.

Trump opened the Aberdeenshire location in 2012 and bought the Turnberry resort in 2014. The former president is said to be proud of his mother’s Scottish heritage.

Last month, a group of human rights lawyers failed to force the Scottish government to investigate how the former president paid for his two golf courses in the country. Advocacy group Avaaz brought up the case after the Scottish government refused to investigate an unexplained-wealth order against Trump.

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