Trump Boasts About Scottish Golf Courses & U.K. Relationship, Despite Local Criticism
In between tweets about China and CPAC, President Donald Trump posted praise for his golf courses in Scotland, and also spoke fondly of the United States’ relationship with the United Kingdom, suggesting that the business relationship is an additional asset. But Trump’s golf courses in Scotland have sparked local protests and lawsuits.
Golfweek says that golf must have been on Trump’s mind this morning as he took the time to send some love to Scotland and to his company’s courses in that country.
“Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!”
But the relationship between Trump and the people of Aberdeen, Scotland, has been strained from the time he bought the land, as environmental and planning authorities were against his plans, because they believe the location threatens the fragile dune system and the area ecology.
The local newspaper, the Herald Scotland, didn’t mince words in voicing their disdain for Trump and the project, calling the American president an “international pariah” and toxic.
And while Trump seems thrilled with his Scottish courses now, that wasn’t the case in 2006 when he learned that 11 wind turbines were being constructed offshore, nine miles north of Aberdeen.
1) The two Trump golf courses in Scotland have lost something like $200 million under Trump management. The losses are covered by loans from the Trump Organization. But where is that money coming from? Trump Co doesn't have anything like sufficient income https://t.co/EJHAnsvbHu
— David Frum (@davidfrum) March 2, 2019
The president said that putting up “windmills” would ruin the view from the golf course.
“I am not thrilled — I want to see the ocean, I do not want to see windmills.”
Trump and his company sued to prevent the wind turbines from going up, but he lost that protracted battle in 2015, and the wind project launched in July.
Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd. took another hit when the local court ruled that the company is also responsible for legal fees accrued due to the lawsuit.
Golfweek believes that the tweet wasn’t as random as it seems, as the Scottish courses are in the midst of a recruitment drive to hire additional staff for the resort, which creates a new problem for Trump, as he is supposed to have divested from Trump Organization businesses while in the White House, says The Hill.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted in response to say that the president’s post was serving as an advertisement for a Trump business.
“There it is. The president is using an official statement as an ad for his business and making sure everyone knows he ties his business to US relationships with foreign countries.”
Walter Shaub, who used to head the Office of Government Ethics, said that this is an explicit “commingling of personal interests with public office.”
