GIVEN his ancestry as the son of a Scottish mother born into poverty, and his golfing properties in this country, it was always likely that Scotland might have a part to play in the current presidential election campaign of Donald Trump.
So it proved when the Washington Post yesterday printed accounts of how the government of the USA picked up the tab for security details that accompanied the president’s children on various trips, including to his golf courses in Scotland.
The Post’s introduction to its story read: “Eric Trump took his Secret Service agents to Trump golf courses in Scotland, as he led transatlantic tours for paying customers.”
Eric and Donald Trump Jnr have replaced their father as head of the Trump Organisation, at least until January when their father might no longer be resident at the White House.
Donald Jnr and Ivanka Trump also had Secret Service agents accompany them to Vancouver in Canada and New Jersey respectively and the Trump organisation duly sent the bill for the agents’ accommodation to the Service’s account.
The Post reported: “The president’s company billed the US government hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for rooms agents used on each trip, as the agency sometimes booked multiple rooms or a multiroom rental cottage on the property.”
“In this way, Trump’s adult children and their families have caused the US government to spend at least $238,000 at Trump properties so far, according to Secret Service records obtained by The Washington Post.”
Secret Service protection for a president’s family is legitimate, but questions are now being raised about the practice of enriching the Trump organisation.
The Post reported on a 2019 trip by Eric Trump leading golf customers to the Trump course at Menie in Aberdeenshire followed by a visit to Trump Turnberry.
The Post said: “Trump’s company charged the Secret Service about $3800 for rooms at Trump’s (Menie) course that day. Then it charged $8500 for rooms at Turnberry – Trump’s other Scottish club – days later, Secret Service records show. The records do not say what rate the service was charged per room.”
The Trump organisation has always acknowledged billing the Secret Service for stays at Trump properties but none of the family would comment on the Post’s story.
Meanwhile Trump and his Democrat opponent Joe Biden have been heading to the so-called “swing” or “battleground” states which will decide who wins the Electoral College – Biden is so far ahead in the polls he is virtually certain to win the
popular vote, but Hillary Clinton did that by three million votes in 2016 and still lost the election in the College.
Last night, as The National went to press, Biden was heading for a “seniors’ rally” in Florida – its 29 votes in the Electoral College went to Trump in 2016, helping him achieve his unexpected victory over Clinton.
Biden is expected to reap the benefit of a backlash among seniors who voted for Trump last time around and now disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic which has had a disproportionate effect on the elderly in the USA.
Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University, told reporters: “Joe Biden continues to be competing better for senior voters than Hillary Clinton did in 2016, and that could be the difference in Florida.”
After his mass rally in Florida on Monday, Trump was heading for Pennsylvania followed by visits this week to Iowa, North Carolina, Florida again and Georgia – all seen as crucial to his hopes.
Iowa and Georgia were two states which Trump won in 2016 but polls show close fights in both states with less than three weeks to go to the election on Tuesday, November 3.
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