President Donald Trump is being investigated over claims of a conflict of interest involving increased military spending at Prestwick Airport and visits to his Scottish golf resort.
Increased expenditure at the airport and alleged low-price deals on stays at the Trump Turnberry resort offered to visiting US military personnel are being scrutinised by the US Congress due to concerns they may violate the American constitution.
Chairman of the Congress oversight committee Elijah Cummings wrote to then-acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan in June 2019 to raise “serious conflict of interest concerns” about Trump making money from military trips to Scotland.
The letter reveals concerns that US military spending at Prestwick – the closest airport to Mr Trump’s resort – appears to have “increased substantially since the election”.
Following reports of the airport offering “cut-price rooms for select passengers and crew”, and free rounds of golf at Turnberry for US military staff and civilian air crews, Trump has been warned his financial stake in the resort raises questions about the increase in airport spending.
Both Trump Turnberry and the airport have operated at significant losses in recent years, with the Scottish Government deciding to put Prestwick up for sale after taking it into public ownership in 2013.
The committee has demanded all the financial documents from the US Department of Defence relating to Trump Turnberry, in addition to details of all communications between the two sides, but reports from the US suggest there has yet to be any response.
Cummings’ letter states: “Two years before the 2016 election, President Trump spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase and renovate the Turnberry golf course in Scotland. To date, the property has continued to suffer financial losses and has not turned a profit for the president of his companies.
“The airport closest to the Trump Turnberry golf course – Glasgow Prestwick Airport – has been viewed as integral to the golf course’s financial success, yet it too has lost millions of dollars every year since its purchase by the Scottish Government in 2013.”
Citing Defence Logistics Agency records showing 629 fuel purchase orders worth $11million since October 2017, the letter adds: “Given the president’s continued financial stake in his Scotland golf courses, these reports raise questions about the president’s potential receipt of US or foreign government emoluments in violation of the US Constitution and raise other serious conflict of interest concerns
“In order to fulfil its responsibilities under the Constitution, the committee is seeking information related to expenditures at both Prestwick Airport and the president’s nearby Scotland golf resorts.”
US news organisation CNN reported that a Democratic committee aide said the Defence Department has not co-operated with the investigation or produced any of the requested documents.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Glasgow Prestwick Airport is operated on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government, in compliance with European Union state aid rules. Ministers do not intervene in the commercial discussions at the airport.
“The senior management team at the airport has been tasked with all aspects of taking the airport forward, including building on existing revenue streams. Glasgow Prestwick Airport has handled military and private flights since the 1930s and it remains an important part of the airport’s business”.