The Republicans’ ‘America First’ presidential candidate is expanding his overseas business empire.
Donald Trump’s real estate conglomerate, The Trump Organization, has announced the expansion of its club in Aberdeen, Scotland, transforming that 18-hole resort into ‘the greatest 36 holes on earth,’ according to a statement. The MacLeoad Course, as the new 18 holes will be known, is expected to be open next summer.
‘Since breaking ground with President Trump and [his son] Eric Trump last spring, we have made extraordinary progress,’ Trump International Scotland vice president Sarah Malone said in a statement. ‘This course is unlike any other links course ever built and is exceeding every expectation. ‘There are very few great stretches of developable links land in the world as good as this.
‘A truly remarkable, world-class team of architects, engineers, environmental scientists and industry specialists have been working tirelessly in the background – etching out every square inch of this phenomenal piece of land to create one of the great wonders in the world of golf.’
Aberdeen is one of two Scottish golf clubs owned by the Trump Organization, a 97-year-old corporation started by Trump’s paternal grandmother.
A view of Trump’s golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire pictured on September 25, 2019
Trump poses for pictures during a visit to the construction site of his golf course in 2010
Trump’s son Eric poses in front of the family company’s golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland
Under the guidance of Trump’s father Fred, the Trump Organization primarily focused on building middle-income apartments in Queens and Brooklyn, New York until the 1970s.
But with the future President at the helm, the Trump Organization moved on to Manhattan skyscrapers, Atlantic City casinos and a number of golf resorts, with varying degrees of success.
Trump’s course in Aberdeen was once the source of considerable local controversy when the reported billionaire bought the land in 2006. Environmentalists at the time were concerned the course would impact wildlife along the Aberdeenshire coast. Furthermore, Trump battled against a proposed wind farm, claiming the turbines were ‘ugly’ and ‘environmentally irresponsible.’
Ultimately Trump would lose his legal battle against the wind farm, which still surrounds the Aberdeen club.
Trump’s presidency proved to be a complicated time for his Scottish golf courses, both of which reported financial losses over his White House tenure. In one 2019 report from Politico, Trump was accused of redirecting Air National Guard flights through an underused Scottish airport in an alleged effort keep another club, Trump Turnberry, afloat.
Separately, Jets owner and US ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson was reportedly asked by Trump to help him bring the British Open to one of his courses, according to a New York Times report. Johnson was ultimately unsuccessful.
Trump’s struggles continued in Scotland after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Turnberry, in South Ayrshire, lost a reported $4.8 million in 2021, while his course in Aberdeen was nearly $1 million in the red.
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