The following article by Max Greenwood was posted on the Hill website May 12, 2018:
President Trump‘s flagship golf club in Scotland received thousands of dollars from the U.S. government for VIP hotel stays, Scottish newspaper The Scotsman reported.
The payments amounted to more than £5,600 — about $7,600 — and marks the first known instance that one of the president’s Scottish properties has received U.S. government money.
According to purchase orders obtained by The Scotsman, the U.S. initially paid Trump’s Turnberry resort $10,113. About two weeks later, $2,444 was returned to the State Department from the company.
Citing a source at Trump Turnberry, The Scotsman reported that the hotel stays were connected to Trump’s upcoming trip to the United Kingdom. The trip to the U.K. — set for July — also includes a stop in Scotland.
The payment was authorized by the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and then transferred to the resort by the U.S. Embassy in London, The Scotsman reported.
It’s not clear if the U.S. officials who stayed at the resort were members of the Secret Service. But The Scotsman reported that the money went toward accommodations for a security detail for the visiting VIPs.
Trump has faced scrutiny for what some critics have alleged are conflicts of interest stemming from his business dealings.
The real estate mogul never fully divested from his business empire when he entered the White House, and still maintains ownership of the company. He handed off day-to-day management of the firm to his two adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.