Donald Trump Says He Had ‘Nothing’ To Do With Air Force Crews Staying At His Scottish Resort
Donald Trump denied any knowledge of an Air Force crew’s decision to stay at his Scottish resort or Vice President Mike Pence’s stay at his property in Doonbeg, Ireland. The president has been facing harsh criticism and scrutiny from congressional Democrats after it was revealed that government employees have been staying at his resorts, even when it doesn’t make sense from a distance standpoint to do so.
According to CNN, the president addressed the ethical concerns of using his private businesses for government purposes in a series of tweets.
“I know nothing about an Air Force plane landing at an airport (which I do not own and have nothing to do with) near Turnberry Resort (which I do own) in Scotland, and filling up with fuel, with the crew staying overnight at Turnberry (they have good taste!). NOTHING TO DO WITH ME,” he tweeted.
A short while later, he conveyed a similar message about Pence’s stay in Doonbeg with a second tweet.
“I had nothing to do with the decision of our great @VP Mike Pence to stay overnight at one of the Trump owned resorts in Doonbeg, Ireland. Mike’s family has lived in Doonbeg for many years, and he thought that during his very busy European visit, he would stop and see his family!” he wrote.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were outraged when it came to light that the military was spending money to stay in Scotland at Trump’s resort while they were conveying supplies to the Middle East. She called for the president’s impeachment in the wake of the scandal, which some said showed that Trump was using the government to help fund his floundering property using taxpayer funds.
According to one report, his Turnberry resort in Scotland lost $4.5 million in 2017, but that turned around in 2018, when revenue increased $3 million. At the same time, military overnight stops have increased from 40 in 2015 to 220 through August 2019.
BREAKING: House Oversight is investigating whether US military expenditures have been propping up Trump Turnberry. A peculiar refueling stop in Glasgow by a US Air Force crew, who stayed overnight at the resort—there & back—tipped them off. Our exclusive: https://t.co/oRkatAAnFs
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 7, 2019
The Air Force launched an order to review all international layover stays, which appears to have prompted the president to respond to the controversy. The military argued that the Turnberry resort was cheaper than other local accommodation and was within the guidelines for cost set by the military, but critics say that the president shouldn’t be earning money off of taxpayers for his personal businesses.
This is far from the first incident where Trump has faced criticism for using the office to bolster his own bank account. Most recently, Pence was criticized for staying in Doonbeg when he had official government meetings across the country in Dublin.
