Trump hosting Starmer at Turnberry broke with diplomatic tradition. American presidents are usually invited to foreign countries by their leaders and hosted at diplomatic residences. But it follows his pattern of abandoning presidential norms, especially when it comes to his family business. According to Michael Cohen, former vice president of the Trump Organization and Trump attorney, the president’s habit of hosting at his properties plays into having a home court advantage. Not only is Trump most comfortable at his properties, where everyone around him is “at his beck and call,” but it also offers Trump the opportunity to show off his brand’s visible presence, Cohen told Fortune.
“The name Trump is plastered everywhere, whether it’s inside of an elevator, whether it’s on a wall with photos of him, whether it’s pulling up to the facility where it says Trump Turnberry. The same holds true, whether it’s Doral, whether it’s Aberdeen, whether it’s Bedminster, Briarcliff, it makes no difference,” he said. “So there’s definitely a power play. It’s an impressive place, and so anybody pulling up sees the value of the property.”
“There is an old expression that land can neither be created nor destroyed, and it’s what made kingdoms, kingdoms. Donald clearly sees himself in that role.”
And combined, the two courses in Scotland, as of 2023, were carrying a debt-load that dwarfs the size of their underlying businesses: $239.32 million between them. This debt is owned by and contained within the Trump Organization.
Despite the properties’ meager profits—as shown on the financial statements filed with the U.K. regulator Companies House—Cohen explained that the value of Trump’s golf businesses aren’t exclusive to the sport itself. “There’s also a future land value that gets assigned to the properties,” he said, “Take Turnberry as an example. What’s the chance that you’re ever going to be able to build another golf course like Turnberry? The answer is, you’re not.”
A resort buoyed less by golfers than by favorable forex
Meanwhile, Turnberry has sizable debt. The parent company owes $168.15 million in zero-interest loans to an unnamed creditor. Eric told Fortune, however, that all of this debt is owed to the Trump Organization, not an external source.
“When we bought Turnberry, we bought the note that they had, and we bought the assets that they had. So it’s just a structure, but that’s all within the Trump Organization,” he explained.
Turnberry’s debt decreased in 2023, from $177.24 million. Alan Jagolinzer, co-director of the Centre for Financial Reporting and Accountability at the University of Cambridge told Fortune, this reduction was “reportedly from favorable exchange rate changes” rather than debt paydown.
Exchange rate fluctuations, Jagolinzer noted, play a large role in the golf resort’s earnings year-to-year. “As a whole, it seems exposed to foreign currency risk,” he said, namely exposure to the weakening U.S. dollar on the business’s loans.
Bogeys on the balance sheet
For Eric, Trump International’s growing pains are par for the course in cultivating a property from the ground up. “A property this size is a massive, long-term commitment. A project like that could take two decades to fully develop,” he told Fortune.
Trump International’s debt is similarly large. The parent company owes upwards of $71.19 million in interest-free loans as of 2023. These loans are owed to US-entities tied directly to the Trump family and Trump himself. According to the filings, $55.06 million of the Aberdeenshire course’s debt is owed to Trump, with an unspecified rolling repayment term, and $16 million of the debt is owed to DJT Holdings LLC. DJT Holdings also advanced $6.37 million in funding to Trump International’s parent company in 2023.
Its previous lack of profitability, according to Jagolinzer, suggests the course “appears to be operating on an assumption it can continue to borrow.”
“It’s not clear how this operation can continue without persistent debt funding available,” he added.
These factors, Jagolinzer said, could become a basis for auditors to offer a negative opinion on “going concern,” meaning the auditor has substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue operating as a business entity for a reasonable period of time, typically one year after the financial statement date. Of course, the fact that the debt is owed to the Trump Organization softens that risk considerably.
Currently, both of Trump’s Scotland properties are audited by BDO’s Ireland branch. However, prior to 2021, both businesses were audited by the firm Johnston Carmichael.
Forensic accountant Paul Barnes told Fortune the change in auditors raised a potential red flag for him. Changing auditors, he explained, can indicate deeper financial issues, disagreements on accounting principles, or a lack of transparency in a company’s financial reporting.
A spokesperson for Johnston Carmichael refused to comment on why they no longer represent the golf properties. “As a regulated organisation, the firm adheres to its obligations and does not discuss client business, whether past or present,” they said in a written statement to Fortune.
According to Eric, the company moved auditing firms to BDO to consolidate their business. The Trump Organization’s Ireland property was already a BDO client prior to 2021. He dismissed any other explanation for the change.
But ultimately, the only creditor that Trump International has to answer to is Trump, making the debt risk low and squarely in the Trump family’s purview. “If they were borrowing from banks in the U.K., the politicians and the government may well put pressure on the banks to call in the money. But the money has come from him in the US. And so he’s got full control,” Barnes said.
Developments stuck in the rough
“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “My golf holdings are really investments in thousands, many thousands of housing units and hotels. At some point the company will do them.”
These promised developments have yet to fully materialize.
Cohen predicted that the Trump Organization is likely in no rush to complete all of the promised projects. “There’s only so many projects that they want to handle at any given time right now,” he said.
“A property this size is a massive, long-term commitment. A project like that could take two decades to fully develop.”
He told Fortune that he remains committed to seeing the project through. “I’ve been buying and buying and buying,” he said. “I just bought 300 acres that connect to the property. In the last year, I’ve probably bought 10 to 12 houses on the surrounding property.” These purchases, he explained, are part of expanding the property and completing the promised projects.
“Aberdeen is something we’re really proud of,” he added.
Regardless of the Scotland golf properties’ development prospects, both businesses face an almost insurmountable battle to make a dent in their sizable debts. But without the threat of banks and government pressure, Barnes said, “they may just carry on, but they’re not going to make a great deal of money for Donald Trump.”
“So you can’t look at these as merely just golf courses,” said Cohen. “There is an old expression that land can neither be created nor destroyed, and it’s what made kingdoms, kingdoms. Donald clearly sees himself in that role.”
