In Donald Trump’s second term, the presidency isn’t just entangled with private interests. Evidently, it’s now being used to advance them.
Trump’s private business interests shadow his official duties more closely than ever, embedded in trade negotiations, international meetings and presidential travel. Trump's presidency increasingly appears to function as an extension of the Trump business brand. His recent trip to Scotland made that dynamic harder than ever to ignore.
Trump's presidency increasingly appears to function as an extension of the Trump business brand.
What was for weeks described by the media as a “private” trip for the ribbon-cutting of a new course at the Trump International Scotland in Aberdeenshire, later evolved to be framed by the White House as a “working visit” and squeezed meetings with world leaders between golf sessions and promotional efforts — primarily at Trump’s own properties, of course.
This means American taxpayers essentially underwrote a promotional visit to a Trump-branded property at what HuffPost estimates — based on a GAO report from 2017 on Trump personal visits to Florida — will cost U.S. taxpayers around $10 million in taxpayer dollars in expenses. But for Trump, the returns could be far greater.
Trump has consistently reported more income from businesses in Scotland than with any other foreign country, according to an analysis of disclosures on file with the Office of Government Ethics. He has personally made over $206 million in income from his Scottish businesses since first entering the White House in 2017, accounting for roughly half of his $412 million haul from foreign businesses during that time.
The meetings that Trump has had in Scotland blur the distinction even further. Trump’s meetings — primarily at Trump-branded venues — include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Scottish First Minister John Swinney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. But that’s only the beginning.
There has been widespread speculation in UK media that the president and White House officials are pressuring Starmer to get the Open Championship to return to Trump's Turnberry golf course. UK officials met with the R&A, the tournament's governing body, about returning the Open to Trump Turnberry in April after reports claiming that Starmer instructed them to do so. The R&A's new chief executive said that he had a "good dialogue" with Eric Trump, who formally leads the Trump Organization alongside brother Donald Trump Jr., in recent months and confirmed that the governing body started investigating the "feasability" of whether Turnberry could host The Open, but has reiterated multiple times that it would not be swayed by UK government requests. He also said the size of the event — with more than 250,000 people involved — would make Turnberry a “challenging” venue, which is why the sport has no immediate plans to use the course.
The golf diplomacy may look symbolic, but it isn’t inconsequential. Hosting the tournament would mean prestige — and cold, hard cash — for a Trump property.
The convergence of diplomacy and self-interest would have once triggered alarm across the political spectrum but now barely registers in the never-ending news cycle. But the risks remain.
Formally led by Trump's eldest sons, the Trump Organization has announced a flurry of international projects, often in close proximity to his presidential travel. That includes deals in countries with authoritarian rule and evolving strategic ties to the United States.
Trump’s first major international trip in this term began in Saudi Arabia, where Trump Tower Jeddah is being developed, and also included stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Weeks before Trump traveled to the Middle East for the trip, the Trump Organization announced development of Trump Tower Dubai in the UAE and a new golf resort in Qatar.
Much of the media’s attention focused on Qatar’s unprecedented gift of a $400 million luxury 747 jet to replace the aging Air Force One. After Trump leaves office, the jet is expected to be transferred to his presidential library. But that’s not the only way Trump is benefiting from those countries, nor his only entanglement with their governments.
The Trump Organization officially describes its new luxury golf resort in Qatar as a partnership with Saudi Arabia-based firm DarGlobal. However, DarGlobal is also partnering on the project with Qatari Diar, a firm that was established by the Qatari government-owned Investment Authority and is led by a Qatari government official.
“We are incredibly proud to expand the Trump brand into Qatar through this exceptional collaboration with Qatari Diar and Dar Global,” Eric Trump said in a statement.
The proximity of these deals to official presidential business raises urgent questions, and is part of a broader trend of Trump more brazenly disregarding what were once considered ethical norms.
During Trump’s first term, he ostensibly tried to distance himself from business interests while in office, pledging that control of the Trump Organization would be handed to his adult children and that he would have “no involvement whatsoever” in the business’s operations. He even signed an ethics agreement promising not to pursue new foreign deals during his presidency.
But Trump’s earlier pledge to avoid new foreign business entanglements has evaporated.
Trump’s earlier pledge to avoid new foreign business entanglements has evaporated.
The ethics agreement Trump signed upon his return to the White House opened the door to new international business ventures while Trump is in office, so long as the deals are not directly with foreign governments. This leaves open a glaring loophole for deals with firms and individuals closely tied or even partnering at arms length with foreign governments, such as Trump’s Qatari project.
Since Trump’s business ventures could appear to be as an informal channel to curry favor or signal alignment, the risks aren’t merely reputational.
The emoluments clause exists to prevent federal officeholders from accepting benefits from foreign states without congressional approval. While lawsuits invoking the clause were dismissed after Trump’s first term ended, the concerns that drove them remain unresolved and largely unaddressed in the current administration.
From Doha and Dubai to Doonbeg and Aberdeenshire, Trump’s second term is reshaping what diplomacy looks like when the president is also the proprietor.
The lines haven’t just blurred. They’re being redrawn — and Trump is the one holding the pen.
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