Before taking oath as the President of the United States, Donald Trump insisted that, while he would remain in charge of his companies, they would not be taking any new foreign deals. As recently as 2019, the Trump children claimed this was still true — that they were not profiting from foreign deals.
On Friday, October 16, 2020, the Aberdeenshire council planning service in Scotland gave the go-ahead for Trump to start building another golf course there. From Golfweek:
The Aberdeen council on Friday gave Trump the go-ahead for a new 18-hole layout, according to the Associated Press. It will be constructed right next to the original Trump International Scotland course on his Menie Estate, north of Aberdeen, which opened in 2012.
It will be dubbed MacLeod after Trump's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.
The Guardian reports that environmentalists in particular are outraged at the news, because they think Trump will ultimately destroy the coastal ecosystem in Aberdeenshire just like he did his Irish golf course (and once again blame the whole thing on climate change despite not believing in climate change).
This news is particularly notable because the recent New York Times investigation into Trump's taxes revealed that Trump's existing Aberdeenshire golf course isn't doing so well:
His three courses in Europe — two in Scotland and one in Ireland — have reported a combined $63.6 million in losses.
Over all, since 2000, Mr. Trump has reported losses of $315.6 million at the golf courses that are his prized possessions.
Maybe that's how the Trump organization justifies it: they're not making any profit on new foreign deals, because they're fudging the numbers to make sure everything is a loss, therefore, they are still technically upholding the promise they made back in January 2017.
Trump wins approval to add second course at Trump International Scotland [Todd Kelly / Golfweek]
New Trump golf course provokes fury in Scotland [Robin McKie / The Guardian]
Trump is already building a wall in Ireland, and the story behind it is ridiculous. [Thom Dunn / Upworthy]
Image: Public Domain via White House
