Two golf courses in the U.K. that are part of ex-President Donald Trump’s sweeping, global chain of sometimes dramatically struggling businesses are reporting losses in the millions of dollars in a year, reports reveal.
Although the trend is obviously well-established at this point, the hits undercut the idea of Trump as some kind of business genius. He has recently been talking about his supposed ability to quickly negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine between that country and Russia if given the chance, an idea that would likely connect to the notion he’s generally adept at business, but some of these numbers just don’t add up to that kind of conclusion. Across years of his personal tax returns made available to the House Ways and Means Committee just before control of the House shifted to Republicans, Trump reported tens of millions in losses, bringing his required tax payments sometimes down to nothing at all. As for the Trump business entities responsible for these U.K. courses, Trump Turnberry has reported $4.5 million in losses for 2021, while a Trump course in Aberdeenshire reported another $853,000.
The reports were made to U.K. authorities and represent specifically pre-tax losses. Newly filed details blame the departure of the U.K. from the European Union, which impacted areas of the business including staffing, with a “lack of access to European staff for businesses in general resulting in greater demand for the individuals previously available to the resort,” as a Turnberry filing put it. There were also impacts in shipping, through means including jumps in charges for imports. In 2021 specifically, officials in the U.K. also had restrictions in place connected to the COVID-19 pandemic early in the year.
The losses, though, aren’t confined to something easily dismissed as part of the past. As reported in Fortune, the Turnberry resort — which the Trumps acquired what is approaching a decade ago — has never posted a profit, and obviously, the country leaving the European Union won’t be quickly undone either.
There were also huge losses at another Trump business entity that it seems owns the entity directly responsible for Trump Turnberry — 2021 losses that reached what would be $17.75 million in current U.S. dollars. That additional entity has Eric Trump at the helm. SLC Turnberry, which evidently runs the day-to-day operations at the course, features both Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
Elsewhere, key entities in the Trumps’ family business are facing continued scrutiny in a civil case brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James over what appeared to be years of financial misconduct hinging on deceptive claims about the value of dozens of company assets. Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case as it heads to trial, recently upbraided the Trumps’ legal team for rambling court filings in response to some of James’s initial complaints that answered the law enforcement official’s contentions in blatantly deceptive or unsupported terms, and the Trumps were set to file updates to their disputed arguments.
