Scottish MSPs debate whether Trump's financing of golf resorts should be investigated

The Greens cite ‘serious concerns’ over the source of the Trump Organisation’s money

Then US President Donald Trump waves whilst playing a round of golf at Trump Turnberry Luxury Collection Resort during his first official visit to the United Kingdom as President in 2018. Getty Images

Eric Trump attends the opening Trump Turnberry's new golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, in 2017. Getty Images

Donald Trump plays a round of golf after the opening of The Trump International Golf Links Course in Balmedie, Scotland, in 2012. Getty Images

Donald Trump and Colin Montgomerie share a joke after the opening of The Trump International Golf Links Course. Getty Images

Donald Trump, then the Republican Party Presidential candidate, visits his Scottish golf course in Turnberry in 2015. Getty Images

Donald Trump is hit on the head with a balloon held by a member of public after an address to the Scottish Parliament in 2012. Getty Images

Donald Trump stands in his ceremonial robes before receiving his honourary award of Doctor of Business Administration from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2010. Getty Images

Donald Trump arrives at the Old Course in St Andrews in 2006. Getty Images

Politicians are debating whether to issue an unexplained wealth order against former US president Donald Trump over his purchases of two golf courses in Scotland.

Eric Trump, one of Donald Trump’s sons, said the move was an attack based on “personal agendas” that ignore the economic benefits of the resorts in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.

But Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie said there were “serious concerns” about the source of the money Donald Trump and the Trump Organisation used to buy them.

Unexplained wealth orders require people to explain the source of money used to acquire property and other assets in the UK, often when criminal activity is suspected.

“At a critical time when politicians should be focused on saving lives and reopening businesses in Scotland, they are focused on advancing their personal agendas,” said Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation.

The Trump Organisation has two properties in Scotland; Turnberry, on the Ayrshire coast, and Trump International Golf Links, in Aberdeenshire.

“If Harvie and the rest of the Scottish government continue to treat overseas investors like this, it will deter future investors from conducting business in Scotland, ultimately crushing their economy, tourism and hospitality industries,” Eric Trump said.

“The Trump Organisation has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Scottish economy, rescued Turnberry and rebuilt it into one of the finest resorts anywhere in the world.

“In both Aberdeen and Turnberry, the Trump Organisation has created thousands of jobs and has made an overwhelming contribution to the leisure and tourism industry.”

Before the vote, one protestor outside the parliament building at Holyrood was wearing a giant Donald Trump mask and carrying a placard saying ‘Investigate me!”

He was also pulling a golf trolley and had his pockets stuffed with cash.

“As entertaining as Eric Trump’s tantrum is, he doesn’t say where his dad got the money to buy his Scottish golf courses, which is exactly why I’m calling on the Scottish Government to seek an unexplained wealth order,” Mr Harvie said.

“There are serious concerns about how he financed the cash purchases of his Scottish golf courses. The government must seek an unexplained wealth order to shine a light on Trump’s shadowy dealings.”

When Donald Trump visited Turnberry in 2018, thousands protested in Glasgow and Edinburgh and he was heckled as he played golf.

Last month, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned the outgoing president not to visit the country during the pandemic to play golf.

After the unrest at the US Capitol on January 6, in which protesters demanded Donald Trump be declared the winner of the country’s election, the organisers of the British Open golf championship said the competition would not be staged at Turnberry for the “foreseeable future”.