Donald Trump threatens to stop investment in Scottish golf

• Tycoon responds to attempts to ban him from UK
• Petition to deny him access has 500,000 signatures
• £700m investment in UK would ‘immediately end’

Donald Trump has threatened to mothball plans to invest upwards of £700m in his two Scottish golf properties should attempts to ban him from the United Kingdom be upheld by parliament.

The US presidential candidate plans to spend more than £200m developing Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire, below, as well as a further £500m at the Trump International Golf Links Scotland development in Aberdeenshire, bottom pic.

However, he has said he will ‘immediately end these and all future investments’ in the UK should he be restricted from travelling to the country.

Trump’s access to the UK will become the subject of a parliamentary debate at Westminster after an online petition to ban him from the country attracted over 500,000 signatures online. It was started following a series of controversial comments made by the American tycoon during the course of his ongoing bid to become the next president of the USA.

A statement issued by the Trump Organisation’s New York office offered his supporters the opportunity to put their names to a counter petition – currently sitting at just over 40,000 signatures – and warned that banning Trump would have significant consequences.

“The Trump Organisation has plans to invest more than 200 million pounds into the development of the iconic Trump Turnberry resort, located in South Ayrshire,” it read. “Our work there has been widely supported by the local community and created hundreds of jobs for the region. Over the coming years, we intend to further develop Trump Turnberry and invest millions more at the site, creating sustained economic growth for South Ayrshire and Scotland.  Additionally, we have plans to invest 500 million pounds towards further development at the 1,400 acre Trump International Golf Links,

“Any action to restrict travel would force The Trump Organisation to immediately end these and all future investments we are currently contemplating in the United Kingdom.

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“Westminster would create a dangerous precedent and send a terrible message to the World that the United Kingdom opposes free speech and has no interest in attracting inward investment.”

The statement added that a ban would also “alienate the many millions of United States citizens who wholeheartedly support Mr. Trump and have made him the forerunner by far in the 2016 Presidential Election”.

The debate over whether or not to deny Trump entry to the UK will be debated on January 18.

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor