Here's Why Trump's Golf Courses Lost $9 Million In 2020

Former President Donald Trump’s golf courses and leisure businesses in Scotland posted substantial losses in 2020 after the United Kingdom imposed strict restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In accounts filed Friday with the U.K. authorities, Trump Turnberry — the former president’s flagship resort in Scotland — lost £5.3 million ($7.1 million) in 2020 due to the pandemic forcing businesses to shut down.

The Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, the first golf course that the former president opened in Scotland, also posted losses in 2020 amounting to £1.3 million ($1.7 million). The course is owned by the Trump family through the firm Trump International Golf Club Scotland.

The Aberdeenshire golf course opened in 2012 amid protests over potential environmental damage. The course posted an annual loss of £1.1 million ($1.5 million) since it opened. The resort also has a total debt of more than £4.4 million ($60 million), a balance sheet obtained by The Business Insider showed.

The second course, Turnberry, was bought by Trump-owned firm Golf Recreation Scotland in 2014 for £4.4 million ($60 million). Trump later claimed he spent more than £110 million ($150 million) in refurbishing the resort. The company posted a £2.4 million ($3.26 million) loss on revenue in 2019 and debt of roughly £119 million ($160 million) to its creditors.

Eric Trump, the former president’s son and director of both companies, attributed the losses to the COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020. He also said the revenues had fallen after Brexit – the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Brexit also affected the resorts’ revenues as it reduced deliveries and “the availability of certain product lines,” Eric Trump said in a strategic report.

Trump’s golf courses received furlough payments from the U.K. government, which subsidized the wages of staff members who could not work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump Turnberry received £2.1 million ($2.8 million) while Trump’s Aberdeenshire course collected £452,000 ($605,000) in furlough payments.

Despite the payments which aimed to prevent job losses due to the pandemic, Trump International still cut around 20 jobs throughout the year 2020, according to Forbes.