Donald Trump claims lossmaking courses worth nearly £75m

Donald Trump has told US authorities his golf resorts in Scotland secure an income of more than £17m a year, despite the fact UK financial records show they are running up annual losses.

The US president’s latest financial disclosure forms, submitted to the US Office of Government Ethics, suggests that Trump Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links are lucrative parts of his global property portfolio, an assessment which jars with accounts filed with authorities here in the UK.

The forms, which list all of Mr Trump’s holdings and assets, state that Turnberry’s annual income last year through “golf-related revenue” stood at $20,293,118, or around £15.04m.

However, the latest available Companies House records, which cover the 12 months up to 31 December 2016, show Golf Recreation Scotland Limited, the South Ayrshire resort’s parent company, incurred losses of £17.6m.

Donald Trump at his golf resort in Turnberry. Picture: John Devlin

Similarly, Mr Trump’s US disclosure forms state that Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire enjoyed an annual income last year of $3,445,724, approximately £2.55m.

But Companies House records, again covering 2016, show the resort lost £1.4m.

Even when the figures Mr Trump submitted to US authorities are compared with the turnover recorded at his Scottish courses, it remains unclear how he arrived at his totals. Turnberry’s accounts show turnover in 2016 was just £9m.

Revenue at Mr Trump’s two courses in Scotland fell 21 per cent to £9m in 2016 from £11.4m a year earlier.

The forms filed in the US also claim that Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links are each valued in excess of £37m.

It is not the first time that Mr Trump’s assessment of the financial performance of his Scottish properties has come under scrutiny.

Two years ago, a US political ethics watchdog demanded the Department of Justice investigate the books of mr Trump’s Scottish resorts after flagging up “suspect” financial disclosures.

The American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF) said there were “significant and widespread discrepancies” in the reported income at his South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire courses.

The Washington DC-based ADLF claimed Mr Trump had broken the Ethics in Government Act, a federal law introduced in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Under the legislation, presidential candidates are required to disclose their financial holdings and transactions.