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EXC Trump Turnberry is *only* hotel named in literature distributed by Prestwick Airport at private meetings with US Air Force crews planning layovers, raising more Qs over their ties amid live Congressional investigation. My @TheScotsman latest. Thread 👇 scotsman.com/news/world/tru…
Here is the pamphlet distributed to US Air Force crews considering using the Scottish Government owned airport during overseas deployments. Trump’s resort is the only accommodation named, and the literature notes its “newly refurbished” and “five star” status. 
The fact Trump’s resort is the one and only hotel mentioned is significant given the protocol Prestwick uses to allocate aircrew accommodation - Turnberry is booked for US military “if customers specifically request it,” @MathesonMichael confirmed to @ScotParl on 10 Sept.
The literature, prepared by Prestwick, has been distributed at closed door meetings in the US b/w the USAF and the airport. Its purpose is straightforward - to try and drum up Fixed Base Operations business at the state-owned hub, currently mired in £38m+ of debt.
But it stands to reason that the inclusion of such a prominent and positive reference to Turnberry can’t exactly harm trade at Trump’s flagship Scottish business. And it could use the footfall. It's running at a £3.38m annual loss and remains reliant on loans totalling £107m.
Sources familiar with these meetings - designed to introduce deploying USAF aircrews to prospective airports & surrounding infrastructure - told me that Prestwick staff also offered to arrange rounds of golf for them at Trump’s resort, a four-time host of the Open Championship.
Prestwick Airport & Scottish Government have previously said Trump Turnberry's one of 13 hotels used to accommodate incoming US aircrews. If that’s the case, why aren’t all 13 on the USAF pamphlet? I asked Prestwick why Turnberry was singled out for praise. It's yet to respond.
But amid an ongoing investigation by the US House Oversight and Reform Committee into US Defence Dept spending and custom at Prestwick Airport & Turnberry, critics of the blurred lines between Trump’s public administration and private businesses say this is concerning.
.@NoahBookbinder from @CREWcrew told me: “The fear when Trump broke from decades of precedent and refused to separate himself from his businesses was that parties, foreign and domestic, could and would try to influence him through his properties. That fear has become a reality.”
It’s worth remembering that last week, the House Oversight Committee confirmed the Pentagon’s spent £147k+ at Trump Turnberry b/w Aug ‘17 and July ‘19. Here’s my story from the time: scotsman.com/news/us-defenc…
The Congressional investigation's also looking into military refuelling payments at Prestwick. Here’s my excl story from earlier in Sept on how a new deal b/w airport & US Defence Logistics Agency was postponed two months after Oversight started asking Qs: scotsman.com/news/us-milita…
If you have a tip re payments & commercial ties b/w Trump Turnberry, Prestwick Airport & the US military, contact me in confidence. My DMs are open. Encrypted emails to martynmcl@protonmail.com. You can find more of my Trump coverage at martynmclaughlin.com. Thanks for reading
