How the future looks for Donald Trump's business empire in Scotland as he claims US election victory

“The stuff we’re doing in the hotel and the golf courses is funded by our own profitability, but Eric keeps on giving us money as well,” Nic Oldham told The Scotsman, referring to Donald Trump’s second son, who, along with brother Donald Jnr, has responsibility for overseeing his father’s two Scottish venues.

“I always say to people, being political or unpolitical, whichever way you want to look at it, the Trump Organisation have never taken a penny back from the UK.” 

It is two decades since former president Mr Trump incorporated his first company in Scotland.

It is a place he has called “home,” and despite the fact his affection is rarely reciprocated, the 78 year-old’s footprint in the nation where his mother was born and raised is well-established and slowly expanding. 

While political commitments ensure that Mr Trump himself is an infrequent visitor, the responsibility for overseeing his two Scottish resorts - ultimately owned by a Florida-based revocable trust in Mr Trump’s name - has fallen to his adult sons, alongside a coterie of trusted executives. Together, they are pursuing significant developments and remodelling work, with millions of pounds of investments planned.

A series of investments totalling around £4 million are planned for the flagship Trump Turnberry, even though the resort’s parent company, Golf Recreation Scotland, owes nearly £124m to other Trump-controlled entities.

At the Trump Organisation’s flagship resort, work is underway to bolster its offering for well-heeled American golfers, who comprise the majority of its customers. After enduring long-standing losses under the former US president’s ownership, the Turnberry property has turned two successive years of annual profits, and there are myriad plans afoot, with £1.8m earmarked for ongoing renovations of Turnberry’s stately 118 year-old hotel, work that involves new carpets being fitted in public areas and scores of bedrooms. The checklist also includes an upgraded golf academy, a redeveloped spa, and a newly built tasting room, library, and cinema.

All the while, the drive to increase occupancy, especially at the resort’s cluster of self-catering villas, remains pressing, and the aim of those in charge is to generate annual revenues of around £40m - a bold ambition given the current figure stands at £21m. Turnberry is also wooing corporate custom, with the French fashion house, Dior, hosting a major conference at the property in recent weeks. 

Another key goal remains unchanged: to secure the return of golf’s Open Championship. Turnberry’s Ailsa links is regarded as one of the finest courses anywhere in the world, yet 15 years have passed since it hosted the prestigious tournament. There are multiple reasons for that. Around 120,000 spectators descended on Turnberry in 2009, but nowadays, The Open’s attendance figures exceed the quarter of a million mark; Turnberry’s remote location and challenging transport infrastructure means it is unlikely to ever emulate such numbers. 

Then there is Mr Trump himself. The R&A - one of the world’s governing bodies of golf - has said it has no plans to stage any of its championships at Turnberry, and will not do so in the “foreseeable future.” The concern is that the focus of any gathering would not be on the tournament, the players, or even the course, but Turnberry’s notorious owner. 

Even so, those at the helm of Turnberry are mindful that the R&A will soon have a new chief executive, and the ruptures in the golf world caused by Saudi-backed LIV mean nothing is certain. Work began last week on a £1m “upgrade” of the Ailsa course to shift parts of the links closer to the Firth of Clyde coastline. The project is being overseen by the renowned golf course architect, Martin Ebert, and according to one planning consultancy involved, is designed to “facilitate the return of The Open Championship.”

Even bigger plans for the resort may or may not be revisited. In 2022, planning officials at the Scottish Government rejected Turnberry’s calls for a change to planning policies that would have made it easier for the firm to pursue an expansion unprecedented in the property’s history, with 120 acres of farmland given over to hundreds of “high end” private houses, retirement villas, and apartments as part of a “coastal retreat.” 

At the time, Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Trump International Scotland in Aberdeenshire, said the Trump Organisation would make a formal application to develop the site “in due course,” but Mr Oldham, who took up his post earlier this year, said he was not aware of any such plans.

In the north east, where the Trump International Scotland resort has hosted the likes of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, investment is also on the agenda. A new links course named after Mr Trump’s mother, Mary, is scheduled to open next summer, with Ms Malone promising the “greatest 36 holes in golf.” The Balmedie course is also attracting clientele from further afield. Next year, it will host a men-only delegation from New Life Ministries, a US-based Christian counselling and broadcasting organisation.

The Balmedie company, which has run up losses for 11 consecutive years and has received loans totalling more than £40m from Mr Trump, also received planning permission five years ago to create as many as 500 houses and 50 holiday homes at the Menie estate. Ms Malone said it had always been the case that any development would be “phased,” adding that the business remains “fully committed” to its long-term plans. 

Neither the Trump Organisation nor its Scottish subsidiaries have any other development plans in the pipeline - or at least, none that have been announced publicly. But if history is any guide, do not rule out the prospect of a new Scottish outpost for the Trump business empire. As revealed by The Scotsman, the Trump Organisation previously attempted to purchase Hamilton Hall, the grand red sandstone building overlooking the 18th green at the Old Course in St Andrews - arguably the most famous locale in all of world golf. The plans were kiboshed after financiers deemed the deal “too risky.” 

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