Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump made millions from taxpayer money through the use of his businesses. A new report revealed that Trump also received millions from the UK government through his golf courses.
The Independent reports that the now-former president received $4 million in COVID relief funds from the UK Government for his golf courses in Scotland. According to filings from the UK’s Companies House, Golf Recreation Scotland Ltd – which owns Trump’s Turnberry golf course – had a loss of $4.55 million in 2020. The Turnberry golf course received over $3 million in furlough payments when it reduced its staff members to 289 from the average of 541.
The Trump International golf course in Aberdeenshire reported a loss of $1.74 million in the same period as the Turnberry resort. In additional claims that were not published by the UK government, SLC Turnberry received between $582,000 and $1.74 million from January to August 2021. Revenue of both courses dropped due to COVID-19 restrictions.
To note, Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution bans officeholders in the federal government from receiving money from foreign governments.
Meanwhile, the twice-impeached, former president is also under several investigations, two of which are based in New York and are being done by the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York Attorney General. Trump recently attempted to sue New York AG Letitia James in order to block James from further pursuing her investigation. James requested that Trump appear for a deposition in January.
Legal experts have previously panned the lawsuit, and in a piece for MSNBC, Jessica Levinson echoed the belief that the suit will be tossed out of the courts. Levinson noted that this is another lawsuit in a string of unsuccessful court battles that the former president has tried, mostly working as a stalling tactic.
“As is often the case with his lawsuits, Trump’s only problem with his suit against James is that the law is against him,” said Levinson. “Prosecutors can have political biases without violating the constitutional rights of the people the prosecutor is investigating. That prosecutor simply must set them aside while doing her job.”